Life, Unexpected
by Mae Bee
Summary: Jack gets back after a four-year deep undercover job and discovers things have changed.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Life, unexpected.

Rating: T

Summary: Jack comes back.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, etc. belong to Fox and 24, I'm just playing around.

Note: This is my first fanfic, please let me know what you think, good or bad, any criticism is helpful.

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Chapter 1-

Chloe stirred as she heard her son call, "Mommy, Mom!", he called again. She sat up quickly, realizing the urgency in his voice.

"Jake? What's wrong, hun?" she asked, lifting him onto the couch with her.

"He's outside, Mommy." Jake replied, pointing at the window.

"Who, hun? Is it uncle Chase?" She asked, still half-asleep.

"No, it's him...from the picture." He paused, trying to remember his name "Jack?" he continued.

Confused, Chloe walked over to the window, still expecting to see Chase. Jake had, after all, made this mistake once or twice before with the mailman.

"Holy shit." She said. It was actually him. Time seemed to freeze as she looked through the window, not wanting to blink him away.

"You swore, Mommy" Jake said, with a scowl she had known all too well.

"Sorry, Jake. I know... I was just surprised."

"It's okay Mommy, I forgive you... Just DON'T do it again" he said smiling.

"Jake, honey. Can you go up stairs for a bit while I talk to Jack?"

Rolling his eyes, he walked up the stairs and into his room.

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Chloe opened the front door, looking at the man who was still lost in his thoughts, avoiding coming up to the door.

"You planning on coming in, or you just gonna stand out here all day?" Chloe asked, with a familiar tone that brought him from his little world.

He smiled, walking up to the door, to Chloe.

"Chloe, it's good to see you."

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I uh... well... I came to see you. I got your address off Bill, I hope that's alright."

She smiled. "So, um. Do you want to come in?"

He laughed a little "Sure" he said, following her lead into her living room.

"So, what else did Bill tell you? Anything?" she said nervously, wanting to know how much explaining she had to do.

He studied her for a second before replying. "Nothing much, I just asked him how you were doing and he said he hadn't seen you in a while, since you left pretty much, but he gave me your address... is that alright" he asked.

"Yeah, I just...well, there's somethings I wasn't sure if you knew or not."

"Some things? Are you seeing someone?"

"No, it's just something that happened after you left, I couldn't tell you because you would blow your cover and I couldn't do that to you. I mean I heard you were back a few weeks ago, but I..." Chloe started crying a bit as she overwhelmed herself. "I'm so sorry, Jack" she tried to continue, stopped again by her crying and erratic breathing.

He slid closer to her and put his arm on her shoulder, unsure what to say.

"Chloe, what is it?" he asked concerned by her sudden crying.

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Just then, before she could calm herself enough to talk, footsteps came down the stairs. Both Jack and Chloe looked toward the stairs as the little boy spoke.

"Mommy... are you alright, why are you crying?" he said, offering a defensive look toward the man sitting beside her.

Chloe looked at Jack sitting somewhat stunned at the boy standing infront of him.

"Yes, hun" she sniffed "We were just talking, baby. Um why don't you come here for a second, I want you to meet someone." she said, looking back at Jack with a half-smile to show that this is why she was so emotional.

"Jack, this is Jake... my son. Jake, this is my old friend, Jack, from CTU." she said, not knowing what else to say.

The two new acquaintances looked each other over for a second before Jack reached out his hand with a smile.

"Well, hi there Jake. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi." Jake said, shaking the mans hand before shyly turning back to his mother. "Can I go back upstairs, Mommy?" he said as if no one else was in the room.

Chloe smiled, blushing a little, "Yeah, sure." she said as he quickly ran off.

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A moment passed by, neither knowing what to say. Jack then smiled at her and put his hand on hers, getting her attention.

"He seems a lot like you." he said, rubbing her arm. "He has that same nose... the same scowl..." he shifted closer, brushing her hair behind her ear, he then leaned in "...but those eyes." he whispered, sending a shiver down her spine.

Her eyes widened as she realized he knew. She turned her head to explain, but he stopped her with a kiss.

"Thought Jack would be too obvious?" he smiled, reassuring her again.

She put her head in her hands, beginning to cry again. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again. I-I..." she stopped, partly not knowing what to say and partly not wanting to say anything.

"Hey, Chlo'. Shhh, it's ok." he rubbed her arm again "Jake's a great name, and he seems like a great kid."

"I wanted to tell you so bad... I didn't find out until a month or so after you left, I just told people it was some guy I was seeing. I mean, I keep to myself at work so not many people asked too many questions about the father or whatever. I mean, I would have told them it was you, but I didn't know what to do at first. I still don't know what I'm doing even now." she said.

Jack smiled again, "Calm down Chloe, I probably wouldn't have done any different in your position. Knowing me, I would have fucked things up, but you've managed to do so well."

She smiled and leaned in for a hug. "Thanks, Jack."

"So does anyone know about him though?" he asked.

"Do you mean that he exists, or that he's yours?"

"Either, both."

"Uh well, Not many people currently at CTU know, Tony and Michelle found out, well, Michelle found out and told Tony... and I had to tell Kim, eventually. Chase was mostly there for me during the pregnancy, I asked him to keep it secret until I knew what to do. I wanted to tell Kim sooner, but I didn't know how. I mean, 'Hi Kim, sorry your dad's gone for god knows how long, by the way, I'm having his baby.' it just doesn't sound right."

Jack laughed "I think it would have been just fine, Chlo'.", he said, rubbing her knee.

Rolling her eyes, "Yeah, sure, Jack."

"Well, how did you tell her? How did she take it?" he asked.

"Uh. Well, as good as can be expected, I guess. She was kind of surprised at first, but she seemed okay with it... though I'm not sure whether it was about him or us she was alright with, I mean I don't think I was her favorite person to begin with, but..." he cut her off again. She rolled her eyes, he seemed to like interrupting her train of thought, not that it made much sense anyway...

He smiled. "Chloe, she likes you just fine."

"Right. You of all people know I don't make a good first impression, or second, or third... I can't help that I'm not good with people."

"You're fine with me." he teased.

"Either way, I pretty much hid behind Chase when I told her, just in case. Not that she'd really do anything with me being pregnant and all..." she stopped herself.

"She was in the room with me, when I had him. She helped name him too. I mean, she liked my idea of Jake." she smiled shyly.

He smiled back warmly "I think it's a lovely name." he kissed her forehead and added "I'm glad she could be there for it. For you."

She felt him hesitate "What?" she frowned.

"Nothing. I just wish I could have been there for it. For everything." he gave her a half-smile, trying to reassure her.

She grabbed his hand "I wish you could have been there too. I was so worried, I mean, it wasn't like we were really dating or anything, and you were gone so suddenly. I... I hoped they were wrong" she began to sob again, the sudden rush of emotions was getting to her-shame, happiness, fear...you name it.

"Chlo', don't worry about it. I don't know how I could handle it either. I'm so sorry I left you, Chloe." he hugged her, holding tight as tears began to sting his eyes.

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Just then, a thumping came rolling down the stairs as Jake hopped down into the living room.

He stood in front of them for a second before looking to Chloe. "Mommy, I'm hungry." he said rubbing his arm shyly.

She smiled "Oh god. I'm sorry, Jake, I totally forgot about lunch." she gave him a silly smile "hang tight a sec while I make something?"

"Alright, ...I guess" he said rolling his eyes, speaking sarcastically.

Chloe rolled her eyes back and walked into the kitchen after giving Jack a nod that the conversation would continue upon her return.

Just like her, Jack thought to himself and smiled at the boy.

"So Jake, how old are ya, fifteen?" he smiled.

"Noooo, silly. I'm three, see? one, two, three." he said, counting his fingers for Jack.

"Wow, three? That's so cool."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. You know what? I'm the top in my class and Billy says I'm the smartest person he knows...but he doesn't know that many people." he said smiling.

"Oh really? Good for you, I bet you get that from your mother. I'm pretty sure she was in the top of her class and she's the smartest person I know... well, maybe soon to be the second smartest." he smiled, giving the boy a nudge on the shoulder.

Jake giggled "No, I think mommy's the smartest in the whole world, she knows everything."

"She sure does, doesn't she?" he smiled.

"So, you into sports?" he asked Jake, wanting to know more about him. His son...

"Yeah, I'm on the Tee ball team and mom says she'll let me take skating lessons when the seasons over."

That's my boy, Jack thought and smiled.

"Cool. I used to love t-ball when I was younger. You know what though, I did it for the girls." he said jokingly.

"Eww!" he laughed and then leaned toward Jack, looking over his shoulder "There is this one girl, she's kinda fun..." he trailed off, innocently smiling.

Jack smiled as Chloe walked into the room, wondering how this boy, their son was so much like them both, without even knowing it.

"Here you go, hun, cucumber and peanut butter sandwich." she said, eying Jack and patting Jake on the head. "Honey, mind if we talk alone for a bit longer? I'll come get you in a bit, okay?"

Rolling his eyes, "Yes, momma." he started walking toward the stairs "Mom, can Jack stay for dinner?"

She laughed "Is food the only thing you think about?"

"No, I was just wondering." he gave a quick smile to Jack. "So, can he?"

"Jeez, you're persistent. It's fine with me, Jack?" she said looking over to him.

What-to hang out with the woman he loved and his son?, like you need to ask, he thought to himself. "Yeah, why not." he smiled.

"Cool." Jake said and quickly ran up stairs with his sandwich.

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"Peanut butter and cucumber?" Jack asked, cocking his eyebrow at her.

"His favourite, go figure. He definitely got some of your sense of taste. Yuck." she laughed. "The worst part is, he made me eat about a thousand of 'em when I was pregnant." she shivered playfully.

He laughed "I'm sorry, hun." he gave her a teasing smile.

Rolling her eyes-a trait which Jack noticed, was received by their son, Chloe smiled and said "Yeah right, you love my suffering."

"I do." he said simply.

"So." he said, hoping she would add to his incomplete thought.

"Do you want to tell him? I mean, later, like at dinner maybe. If...if you want to." she said nervously, not sure of a better way to ask.

He looked into her eyes, seeing her worry and frown. "Chloe," he began softly "I don't want you to ever think I wouldn't want to be a part of his life. He's my son, our son, Chloe." he held her hands in his and kissed them, keeping his eyes focused on hers. "I love you."

She started to sob again, unable to control her emotions "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know what's wrong with me today."

He rubbed her shoulder "It's just a lot to take in. I mean, here I am after over three years, saying all this stuff to you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't be." she snapped, then lowered her voice "I mean, you didn't. I'm glad your here. I'm glad we've talked. It feels good."

"I'm glad it feels good. It feels good for me too." he said bringing her closer to him for a friendly hug.

"Want to go to the park?" she asked.

Confused, he replied "The park?"

"With Jake. I promised I'd take him to the park today, wanna come with?" she smiled at him innocently.

Nodding his head "I would be honoured, Chloe."

"Cool." she laughed, "I don't have to play football"

"Football? Nice, mommy." he smiled playfully.

"Don't get any ideas, Jackie. It's not tackle and I'm not playing" she said with a smile on her face.

"No fun." he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to mimic her scowl.

"God, you look just like him."

"I'll take that as a compliment, he's a cutie."

Rolling her eyes, yet again, she walked to the bottom of the stairs and called down Jake.

Jumping down the first few steps, he got down in seconds.

"What did I tell you about jumping down the stairs?" she said angrily.

"Sorry mom." he looked to the floor.

"That's better. Now get dressed and we'll go to the park, you and Jack can play football this time."

He looked at Jack and smiled, which Jack returned.

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Sorry for the "24242424", I couldn't get the paragraph spacing to work on the site. This is my first fanfic, I will hopefully continue it for at least one more chapter. Tell me if you like it or not and hopefully why or why not.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – The park

Once Jake was ready, the three of them headed to Chloe's car and drove to the park. Along the way, Jake was telling Jack about how uncle Tony got him into football a few weeks ago. Jack smiled at the thought of his best friend being his child's uncle. They were pretty much brothers, weren't they? He laughed as he thought Tony had probably made him a Cubs fan as well, he wouldn't be surprised.

"We're here." Chloe said as she pulled into the next available parking spot. The park wasn't very packed considering how full the parking lot was, everyone was probably down the street and parked there to save a buck. She smiled noticing Jack making faces at Jake in the mirror.

"We ready?" Jack asked, looking at both Chloe and Jake.

"Hell, yeah!" Jake said, his face immediately going blank "Sorry, mom." he said wincing.

Jack looked at Chloe, both with the same thought in their heads, "Uncle Tony?" Jack said teasingly, glancing at Jake, but still keeping his focus on Chloe.

"I'm going to have to talk with that man." she nodded as she undid her seat belt and threw the foam football at Jake "He's a bad influence on you, mister."

"Oh come on, don't get me in trouble, mommy." Jake said smiling, innocently.

"Yeah, right. Only because then he'll think twice before teaching you stuff he shouldn't be?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes and looked at Jack "See! She knows everything." he giggled.

"Nothing get's past her, does it?" he smiled in agreement.

"Come on, boys. Let's go." Chloe said, wanting to change the subject as she opened the door.

Nervously, Jack started flipping the soft foam football in the air as Chloe undid Jake's car-seat. This would be the first time he would play with his son. His heart sank at the thought about it. Jake, his son, who he didn't even know about until just a few hours ago. He felt the butterflies that he only remembered feeling when he first held Kim in the delivery room. Nervousness wasn't something Jack Bauer was used to feeling, he'd been seconds from death and was never more scared as he was right now.

"So Jake, you ready?" he said, getting ready to toss the ball.

Jake laughed and said "I was born ready!" getting into a catching stance he probably learned from Tony, or Kim if she remembered. Jack had taught her to play when she was younger, she insisted in football instead of soccer. He smiled.

"Alright, here it comes." he warned as he tossed it toward Jake, who lost grip after catching the football and dropped it.

"Nice try, Jake. Now throw it back and we'll do it again." he said reassuringly.

"Alright. Here." Jake said back as the threw the ball to Jack.

"Good throw!" he said, catching it, "You ready?"

"Yeah." Jake said smiling.

Chloe sat under a tree watching Jack and Jake throwing the ball around-a sight she never thought the would get to see. It felt so nice to have them both in her life, even if it was only for a day.

She liked that they had taken to each other, not that she thought they wouldn't, that is, if they ever got to meet.

She wasn't too sure how Jake would be though, he seemed defensive at first, despite all the stories she had told him about Jack and all he had done for her and the country.

Also, she wasn't sure how Jack would react, it's not every day you get told you have a three year old son you never knew about, not to mention with someone he probably never seen himself with in the long-term. It's not like it was a one nighter with them. They had a couple of "dates" and had slept together for a while before he left, but they never really talked about an "us" or anything, as far as she knew it was just sex. Really good, hot sex that made her mind turn to mush just thinking of it. I mean, she knew he liked her, he'd never do that if he didn't. They worked great together, there was no denying that, but who knows? She was just happy they got to meet and whatever happens, happens, she bit nervously watching them play.

She also found herself worrying about tonight. She knew Jake liked Jack, which was probably half the battle, but being a friend of your mothers and your father are completely different things. He liked the stories she told him about their work-she left out some stuff, of course, like multiple deaths caused by either one of them...how would he react though? Would he be okay with it, would he think she lied to him-she hadn't told him who his father was, but said he was a great man and that she hoped he could meet him someday. "Well Jake, you don't know it yet, but today's that day." she said to herself before the sound of laughter snapped her back into the present.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" she asked the two guys, now on the ground wrestling playfully with the football.

"Good...ergh." Jake managed to get out as he sat on Jack and grabbed the football, raising it in victory and the two started laughing again.

Just then, Chloe snuck up and took the ball from Jake and started running away, beyond two trees and throwing it to the ground yelling "...and Chloe makes the touchdown, winning the game! wooo!" running back and grabbing Jake in her arms like a trophy "I am so honoured to be your MVP, I will cherish this award for...about five seconds."

They all laughed as she put him down and started walking down to the park bench for a much needed break on their part.

This had been a good day, she felt relieved for once. Jack looked like he was enjoying himself.

She wondered if it had been like that with Kim, so at peace and care free. She smiled as she noticed they were looking at her again.

"Sorry guys" she laughed, "just thinking, you know me."

"Do you hear that Jake" Jack asked, with a hint of mischievousness in his voice, "it sounds like someone's thinking in the 'No-thinking zone'"

"Yeah! What do you think should we do?" he asked excitedly.

"Hmm, I don't know. What do you think?" he said to Jake while smirking at Chloe, informing her of her impending doom.

"Ice cream!" Jake yelled after thinking for a second.

Jack and Chloe both looked at him questioningly, Jack asking what he meant.

"Mommy should buy us Ice cream!" he said innocently.

"Yeah, mommy. Can you buy us some Ice cream?" Jack said, giving her another smirk that could almost make her melt into nothing.

"She's not your mommy, silly" Jake added.

"Aww, can I still get ice cream?" Jack asked with a pout.

"I don't know, should we let him?" Chloe said teasingly.

"Yeah, he deserves it, he taught me how to catch! Did you see me, I caught it all by myself!" he said jumping up.

"Yeah, I saw that! Good job, hun." she said patting him on the back. "Now, should we go get that ice cream?"

They both nodded as they began to walk towards the car, still passing the ball back and forth until they got to the parking lot.

Chloe parked the car near the entrance of the store "What kind do you want, Jake?" she asked.

"Umm, the thing with the three different things, please." Jake replied with a smile.

"What about you, Jack?" she said looking back at him.

He smiled "I think I'll have whatever you have, Chlo', make it easy for you."

She rolled her eyes "If you're sure..." she trailed off a bit, waiting for an answer.

"I'm sure, want me to come with to help carry some?" he asked, trying to be polite-a thing which neither were very good at.

"No. Stay with Jake though?" she replied.

"Yep, sure thing" Jack said in a funny voice which she wasn't sure if it was for her or Jake...or maybe just Jack being weird, she laughed.

"So one neapolitan and two frog-leg supremes, coming right up!" she said winking at them as she walked away.

"Fine with me." she heard Jack say before she left.

She came back a few minutes later with three ice creams, one neapolitan and two caffeine-smelling flavours.

"Here you go Jake, the thing with the three different things." she said handing him the cone. "And for you, Mr. Bauer, a triple moccochino express. The same as me" she said with an accomplished look.

He laughed before taking a lick "I should have figured you'd get something girly."

"I am a girl, Jack, and this is the type of ice cream I wanted to get. I think that maybe the problem isn't that the ice cream is too girly, it's you that's not man enough." she said teasingly.

"Oh really. I can't stand for that, can I, Jake?" Jack said looking back at Jake, giving him a nod of approval. "I'll just have to show you how man I really am."

Chloe saw a familiar glint in his eye and she knew she wouldn't hear the end of this 'argument'-not that she wanted to anyway, she thought to herself. "Oh really, how will you manage that one?" she said playfully, trying not to say or start anything inappropriate in front of Jake, still in the back seat watching them while eating his ice cream.

"I'll cook."

"You'll cook?" Chloe said in disbelief.

"Yes, I'll cook. Tonight, I'm staying for dinner anyway, I might as well cook."

"Well than, be my guest."

"Good, because there's nothing more manly than slaving over a hot stove for hours." he said using the voice from earlier, making Jake laugh.

When they got home, Chloe and Jake went upstairs upon Jack's request and Chloe gave Jake a bath to occupy some time to keep from snooping on Jack in the kitchen.

Jack, meanwhile, looked around the cupboards for something to make. It had to be simple because he had no fucking clue how to cook real food. Luckily, he found the perfect thing and begun his "masterpiece".

Just then, he heard Chloe's footsteps behind the door. "No peaking, Chlo'." he raised his voice, startling Chloe. "I'll have you arrested, just you know. No unauthorized viewing of the masterpiece!" he said again using a slightly silly voice.

About ten minutes later, he gets them to the table and serves out the dinner.

"Kraft dinner? This is your big masterpiece?" Chloe said, letting out a chuckle.

Jack shakes his head "I'll have you know it's Mac&Cheese, and yes, it is my masterpiece. The jewel of my culinary expertise. Now eat up." he smiled.

"Culinary expertise, Jack?"  
"Just because I didn't got to food school and I can't cook highly complex meals...where was I?" Jake laughed.

"I don't think this counts as mildly complex, Jack" Chloe added

The three of them laughed it off and begun eating their less-than-mildly-complex meal Jack had made for them. There wasn't much else said other than a little small talk, but it seemed normal for once, Chloe thought as she finished her food and got up to go to the kitchen.

"Let me help you, Chloe." Jack offered, grabbing his plate and a few other dishes on the table.

Chloe nodded and asked Jake to go watch TV upstairs while they cleaned up and talked a bit.

Once Jake went up stairs, Chloe let out a sigh of relief. "How are we going to tell him?" she asked, resting her head roughly on Jack's shoulder, looking up to him, unsure of their next move.

Sighing, Jack put his arm around her for comfort. "I don't know right now, I'll work out though. I know it." he said hopefully.

"I know, I just... what if he takes it the wrong way? I don't want him to feel like he's been lied to, not that he has, but... I don't know. Is it just too good to be true? I'm just so scared I have no idea what I'm doing." she said, now sheltered by Jack's arms.

"Look at me. You're a wonderful mother, he's a good kid, who loves you and thinks the world of you. I don't think you could change his mind of that no matter what. If he likes me, is another story. We'll do this together and hope for the best. He's a smart kid, he'll be ok." he said, slowly swaying Chloe and himself to keep her calm. She looked up at him, wondering why he didn't seemed phased by the situation and started to get frustrated. "Why aren't you freaking out Jack! What if this goes horribly wrong? What's the matter with you?" she said on the verge of tears, and what she felt might be a complete breakdown.

He moved them to the couch and hugged her for a few seconds before responding with words. "I am freaked out, Chloe. I'm the most scared I've been in my life. I need to be strong though, you need me right now. Trust me, I'll be crying like a baby in the fetal-position as soon as I get home, alright?" he said, steering off the seriousness near the end, trying to lighten the mood.

She smiled a little. "You promise?"

"I promise. I'll send you the Kleenex." he said, rubbing her shoulder. "If you want, we can tell him tomorrow. I'll come over after breakfast and we can-"

"No, I want him to know tonight." she said, hoping he wouldn't be mad. "You can go home though, if you'd like."

"Chloe, I want to be here when we tell him." he smiled, holding her hands in his.

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Again, please tell me what you think, or any suggestions, I'd love to hear it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

Jack sat on the couch, listening to Chloe pace through the kitchen frantically. He wasn't sure if he should interject just yet or let her calm herself down.

Judging by the sounds of at least three bottles being opened in the last few steps, he figured it probably wasn't such a bad idea.

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"Chloe?" He said walking into the kitchen, his hand lightly going over her arm in an effort to bring attention to his presence.

She stopped walking and looked at him with a hesitant smile "I don't know what I'm so worried about. I mean, of course he'll be okay with it, you're Jack Bauer, everyone loves you, right?"

He looked at her questionably before responding, "Last time I checked, most people end up hating me."

Her eyes widened, not hearing the answer she wanted. "So not helping, Jack. Why can't you lie to me once in a while, fuck." she spit out anxiously.

"He's not most people, Chloe. We're not most people. He's a smart kid, you're worrying too much, like usual. It just might take some time, you know that." he said, putting his arms around her and kissing her forehead. "And I'm willing to wait as long as it takes." he added, looking into her eyes.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, taking in the situation and a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Okay." she said calmly. "I think I'm ready." she said, looking to Jack, who smiled and held her hand as they walked out of the kitchen.

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When they got up stairs, they could hear Jake playing in his room, the door slightly ajar. They looked in for a second before entering, both mentally planing it out.

Chloe knocked on the door before taking a step inside. "Hi, Jake. Do you mind if we come in for a second?"

"Sure" the boy said with a smile, hopping onto his bed from the floor. Chloe then sat on the other edge of the bed while Jack knelt down beside her.

Taking a deep breath Chloe began "Jake, you know those times I talked to you about your dad and how I wanted you to meet him someday?" she said, hoping he'd take the hint without too much trouble.

Jake nodded before looking at Jack "Do you know my dad?" he said in a soft voice. His eyes were so full of hope and innocence, Jack thought, unable to talk.

"Close...um. Jack's your father." Chloe said with a worried, but optimistic smile.

The boy looked at his mom and then at Jack. He didn't say anything for a while, just looked silently at them both.

Jack's heart was sinking again as he wait for his son to respond, not wanting him to feel rushed.

---

After a minute, Jake scooched forward before speaking. "So. You're my dad?" he said shyly.

Jack smiled back with a sigh of relief. "Yes." he said simply, not knowing what else to say. He knew it wasn't over yet, but he seemed alright as far as he could read off him.

Jake sit studying Jack for a few seconds, taking him in and no doubt processing the whole situation in his head. "Do you love my mommy?" he asked slightly defensive and now making eye contact with Jack.

"I do. Very much." Jack replied, looking at his son, then at Chloe.

This was the first time he had said that he loved her to her, though he meant it for much longer. Chloe was smiling, still the look of worry on her face, but soon overcome with emotion.

She didn't know that he loved her, but she could tell he meant it and she used much of her strength to keep from crying. A thing which she seemed to be doing a lot today, she thought to herself.

Jack could see the look in her eyes and held her hand with a smile. "I love you, Chloe." he said, looking her in the eye.

"I love you too." she said, taking a deep breath again to hold off the tears.

"Do...do you love me?" Jake asked, the look of both fear and hopefulness in his face.

Jack wanted to punch himself, he shouldn't have to ask that question, he thought.

He bit his tongue to regain composure before nodding and saying "More than anything. I want you to know that, Jake. I love you so much."

It was quiet again for a few more minutes before Jake spoke again, trying to sort through all the questions he had for them both. It was a lot to take in.

"Um Jack, What do I call you now?" he asked.

Jack let out a slight laugh, "It's up to you. Whatever you like. You can call me Jack, or dad...unless that's uncomfortable for you. You don't have to, I understand." he finished looking at the floor, feeling that he might have come on too strong.

But Jake smiled after a few seconds "Dad's fine...I've never had someone to call dad, and plus there's a different Jack down the street who smells funny, I don't want anyone to think I'm talking about him."

Chloe ran her fingers through her hair, she couldn't believe this was happening. She had been so worried, not knowing what to expect and yet maybe everything was going to be ok?

"So, um. Are you going to live with us now?" Jake asked.

"I'm don't know, Jake. I'd like to, if it was okay with you and your mom, but your mom and I still have a lot to talk about before that happens, but I'll just be a phone call and a few minutes away, if you want to talk or something." he replied.

"Can he stay over tonight?" Jake said looking to Chloe.

"I don't know. We don't have the bed here for him to sleep on, remember?."

"I could take the couch, if it wouldn't be a problem." Jack added, looking at Chloe.

Chloe was about to answer when Jake interrupted "Can't he sleep in your bed, mommy? Please, I don't want him to leave yet! It's what Tyler and I did when I stayed over at his place, remember?" he said, really wanting him to stay.

Chloe blushed a little and Jack put his arm around her "Now there's an idea. We could have a slumber party, nothing more manly than that!" he said playfully, making Jack laugh and Chloe smile.

Still blushing slightly, Chloe finally said "I guess that would be ok." trailing off a little, not knowing what else to say.

It's been a while since they shared a bed, hell, it's been a while since she shared a bed with anyone other than Jake and Chase a couple of times, and she wasn't sexually attracted to either of them.

---

The three of them stayed in Jake's room and talked and told stories until Jake had fallen asleep. Jack looked at the clock, he realized they'd been up there for three and a half hours, just talking.

He smiled as he looked down and saw Chloe had fallen asleep against him while they lean on Jake's bed.

Not wanting to wake either of them, he got up slowly and carefully picked up Chloe and carried her into her bed, covering her with her blankets.

No longer tired, Jack just sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes before deciding to lay down beside her. Not wanting her to feel rejected or rushed, he decided staying in her bed, but above the covers would probably do fine.

He stared at the ceiling and looking at Chloe, thinking about everything for an hour or two before finally dozing off.

----

Thanks again for your reviews of the previous chapters, it's inspired me to continue something for once. Anyway, hope you liked it so far.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – A very good morning.

---

He woke up a few hours later, alone and covered by a blanket. He looked around and smiled realizing it hadn't been a dream.

He brushed down his hair with his hands to look presentable and walked down stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hi." Chloe said, handing him a cup of coffee "thought you could use it."

"Thanks. How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Good. My neck is kind of stiff from sitting in Jake's room, though. I'll be fine though." she smiled.

Jack looked out into the living room "Jake up?" he asked, not seeing him.

"Are you kidding? Nothing gets that boy up before ten." she laughed

"Just like his mother" Jack teased.

"Hey! I'm up now aren't I?" she playfully pushed his shoulder.

"Yeah, who have thought Ms. Chloe would ever be up before me."

"I'd be able to more often if you ever slept more than an hour." she teased

"Touche, Chloe O'Brian." he said, winking at her.

---

Jack looked around the living room as they walked to the couch. He looked at the pictures on the tables, how happy they looked.

"Don't Jack." Chloe said, noticing the look on his face.

Knowing he'd been caught he sighed "Why not? I should have been there for you."

She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness "Jack, you're right, you weren't there. It wasn't your fault though, I didn't give you a chance. I knew I could never make you choose between this mission and me. It wouldn't have been fair, Jack."

"but I should have-" he attempted to defend himself-or rather protest his defence, but Chloe cut him off.

"No but, Jack. You needed to do that, and plus, you had already gone by the time I found out, I couldn't just get you in the middle of it." She paused to give him a second to digest. "Just, don't be so hard on yourself." she added, taking his hands."I don't want to see that look in your eyes, Jack."

"You are here now. You can't change the past, you know that. I love you, and I know Jake loves you. Trust me."

She took a breath and lowered her voice "You don't need to make up for anything, you have nothing to be sorry for. Just be here now."

Jack nodded, resting his head on Chloe's shoulder. She was right, despite him still feeling guilt, he was here now and it felt right.

---

"Shit" Chloe said, looking at the clock.

"What is it?" Jack said, pulling away from her.

Chloe looked at him "Oh. Nothing, Jake will be up soon. I should get his breakfast ready."

"Need any help?" he asked, with a hint of insecurity.

"Yep. No idea what I'm making yet, but I could always use your culinary expertise." she laughed.

He gave her a playful look before chasing her into the kitchen. "Got you!" he said, holding onto her.

She smiled "I'm glad you're back." she said, giving him a hug.

"Now let's cook." she said, slipping away from his grip.

Jack watched as Chloe rummaged through the cupboards for something to make."So what does he like?"  
"Food or in general?" she asked, pulling out a box of pancake mix.

"Well, both." he said, reaching behind her for a bag of chocolate chips. "These?" he asked.

"Yep," she laughed " makes my cooking bearable."

"Aha, so you've been to cooking school." he joked, smirking at her

"No! I just ...googled some things." she said mumbling the last part.

"The great Chloe, googles things?" he said, acting shocked.

"You're an ass, Jack." she said, scowling at him, pretending not to like it.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I am, but you love my ass." he said shaking his butt at her.

"Very mature." she rolled her eyes.

---

While Jack and Chloe were cooking, Jake had woken up and heard the noise from the kitchen. Curious as to what was going on, but not wanting to interrupt, he crept down the stairs to listen.

---

_"So, our boy has been good to you while I was gone?" he heard Jack say._

_"Yeah, he's great." she paused "aside from those peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches... thank you very much." _

_"Hey, can't blame me for him having great taste." Jack said teasingly.  
"Sure... hold on a sec." Chloe said._

---

Jake heard her head toward the door and stood up, pretending to be coming down

"Jake!..oh." she said, seeing him " Jake, food's ready." she said smiling.

"Ok, momma. I'll be down in a sec, ok?" ha said running to his room  
"Sure." she said heading back in the kitchen.

---

Chloe walked in smiling "And what's that smile for?" Jack asked.

"We've got a little spy on our hands." she said laughing.

"The stairs?" he said with a smirk.

She looked at him weird "because you've done that before, right?"

"Hey, I liked to be in the loop. Plus, I never trusted my father's friends not to."

"Great, looks like we have a miniature Jack Bauer on our hands." she said rolling her eyes.

"And that's a bad thing, why?" he said, nudging her arm.

---

Just then, Jake walked in and sat down beside Jack.

"And how's the morning treating you?" Jack said, looking toward the boy.

"Good." he said as Chloe placed a plate of pancakes and a glass of milk in front of them both.

"Thanks, mom." he said, then looking to Jack, his eyes lit up a bit "...and dad."

This brought a big smile to Jack's face and sparked a light in his eyes as well. "No problem." he said, winking at Jake.

---

The rest of the meal was relatively quiet as the three of them ate and enjoyed each others company.

Jack and Jake were shoveing each other, playfully with their feet while they ate, laughing every few seconds.

"I'm glad you stayed." Jake said as Jack got up to bring his plate to the sink.

He smiled "So am I." he said, before glancing at the clock.

"Listen," he said to Jake "I have to leave in a minute to do some running around, but would you mind if I came back after?"  
Jake smiled again "Ok. And then we can hang out and stuff, right?"

Jack laughed, putting his hand out for a five "deal" he said upon receiving the gesture.

"Okay, I'll see you guys in a bit." he said, smiling at Chloe as he left.

* * *

So, I finished chapter 4 already, but I posted chapter 3 late because I was sick yesterday. I doubt I'll get two chapters in a day again, but hope you like it!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

---

Jack smiled as he pulled up to the curb and stepped out of his car, scanning the property as he walked toward the door.

After he knocked on the door, he anxiously waited as he heard movement from inside the house.

"Hi..." Michelle's eyes widened as she looked up. "Jack! Oh my god." she said smiling. "It's so good to see you." she motioned for him to come inside.

"It's good to see you too." he smiled back, sitting on the couch.

"How long have you been back, have you talked to Chloe yet?" she asked, so many questions filling her head.

He smiled "Yes. I came back the night before yesterday, but I spent the night at CTU for the debrief and medical. I went to Chloe's in the morning, got the address from Bill." he said, looking at his hands.

Michelle sat closer to him "How did it go?" she asked softly.

"Not bad. You know, caught up with Chloe for a while, found out I have a son... the usual."

Michelle looked at him, unable to read him "Jack," she started.

"It's okay." he said with a slight smile "He seems like a good kid, reminds me of myself a bit. It's scary."

Michelle smiled at him "Does he know?"

"Yeah, we told him last night. He seemed okay with it, wanted me to stay the night."

"Did you?" she asked, surprised

He laughed "Yeah. He told me to stay in Chloe's bed...like a sleepover."

Michelle laughed with him "How did that go?"

"We fell asleep talking with Jake, so I carried Chloe to her bed and I slept over the covers so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable."

She smiled. "How was it being back?"

"You know, I was nervous, just about talking to her, but... I just love her so much, Jake too. It just felt good, I was happy for the first time in a very long time." he smiled.

"It's good to hear that, Jack. I'm happy for you." she hugged him.

---

"If you don't mind waiting a little bit, Tony should be back soon. He just took the kids out for a bit."

Jack cocked a brow "Kids?" he said with a smile.

Michelle blushed, of course he wouldn't know, she thought. "Yeah. Um, Tyler and Kaylee. Tyler's three and Kaylee is almost two." she said as she walked over and gave him a picture of a young boy and girl.

"Wow." Jack said, running his hands through his hair. "Looks like I've missed a lot. Two kids, eh?"

"Yeah" she said smiling. "Chloe and I helped each other out while we were pregnant. Neither of us knew what we were doing." she laughed a bit.

"Was she ok? I mean, with the pregnancy and everything...after, you know." he asked, a worried look in his eye.

"She was alright. I think was a lot for her to take in at first, with everything. For a while she was pretty defensive about it. She found me in the washroom at CTU, throwing up and I confessed I was pregnant.

I think that helped her not feel so alone. After that, she really opened up to me, about you, the baby, everything."

"She said you guys were there for her." he said with a sigh.

"She was there for Tony and I too, you know. She probably didn't mention it, but... we hit a little rough patch before Tyler was born.  
I was going to leave him, but she convinced me to stay and work things out, that I was just angry and hormonal. I spent a few nights at Chloe's while we worked things out, but I think it was good on both of us-Chloe and I.  
I mean, it was just her and Chase most of the time before that, I think it gave her a different perspective. Like I said, she started opening up to me about everything. We helped each other out, for sure."

"Thank you, Michelle." Jack said looking up at Michelle.

Michelle sighed, seeing the guilt in Jack's eyes "She loves you, you know."

"I know." he said looking away for a second.

"You deserve to be happy, Jack. You both do." she said, regaining eye contact.

---

A few seconds later, the door opened and two children came running inside.

"Mommy!" said the boy, Tyler, pushing ahead of the little girl.

"Ty-er!" the almost-two year old said angrily, running after her brother.

"Tyler Miguel, leave your sister alone!" Tony barked walking inside, shutting the door with his heel.

Jack stood by the corner, looking onto the scene, smiling at the perfection of it all.

---

"Holy shit, Jack!" Tony's voice shook Jack out of his thoughts.

"Oh, hey." Jack said as Tony came up and gave him a hug.

Tony looked him over, "What the fuck's this 'hey' shit, man? I haven't seen you in like fifty years, don't I get more than 'oh, hey'?"

"Tony, language" Michelle said, unzipping Kaylee's coat.

"Sorry, 'Chelle." he said, rolling his eyes at Jack.

Jack laughed "You better watch yourself, Tony."

"Yeah, probably should." he smiled.

"Anyway, how are you? How'd it go? When did you get back? Have you seen Chloe? Kim?" Tony asked, at fifty words per second.

Jack laughed. "Want to put that stuff away first?" he said, pointing to a bag of groceries in his arms.

"No, but I probably should. I'll be right back." He laughed and went into the next room.

---

"Who is that, mom?" Tyler asked, pointing at Jack.

"Tyler, Kaylee. This is Jack Bauer, he's a good friend of mine and your father's. He's Jake's father"

They both shyly said "hello" and Jack said it back, with a "nice to meet you" attached.

"You're Jake's dad?" Tyler asked.

Tony walked out with a worried look on his face, unsure of the beginning of the conversation.

"Yes, I am." Jack answered, looking up to Tony.

Tony walked over, offering Jack a beer "So, you know?"

Jack nodded, "Thanks." he smiled "found out yesterday."

"Yeah?" Tony replied, handing an extra beer to Michelle.

"yeah, I spent the night there." he added.

"Wh- that's great." Tony said, surprised.

Jack nodded, taking a sip of his beer "He asked me to stay the night."

"He knows?" Tony asked, intrigued.

Jack nodded, taking a deep breath.

"A lot to take in?" Tony added before signaling to the couch.

"You have no idea." he said, glancing over at Tyler and Kaylee playing in the corner.

"So, did you just get in yesterday or last night?" Tony asked.

Jack shook his head "No, Friday. I slept at CTU-it was too late to do anything after debrief and medical, so I crashed there, got Chloe's address from Bill before I left in the morning, yours from her."

Tony nodded. "Have you talked to Kim yet?"

"No." Jack said, looking to the floor.

Tony nodded again "I'm sure she would like to see you."

"I know. I just...need a day or two. I'll probably call her tomorrow."

"Do you have her number? I can give it to you, if you need." Michelle offered.

"No. I have it." he said, running his hand over his face.

"Hey, do you mind if I use your washroom?" Jack asked, getting up as Tony nodded.

"Down the hall, to the right." Michelle said, pointing.

---

Jack looked around while walking to the bath room, noticing little things that he had once had, and now hoped he could have again.

When he got into the bath room, he shut the door and looked in the mirror. "Come on, Jack. You can do this." he said, running his hands through his hair.

Thoughts of everything he had done wrong in his life, mixed with things he did right-or at least what he called right, flashing through his mind. Tears started to form in his eyes as he stared deeply into himself, seeing everything.

"It's going to be okay." he told himself, taking a deep breath before going to the bathroom and getting back to Tony and Michelle.

---

Jack came back into the living room and sat back down beside Tony.

"I miss anything?" Jack asked at nothing in particular, just getting the focus off himself.

"No. Want another beer?" Tony said, getting up and taking Jack's empty bottle.

"No thanks, I can't stay too much longer."

Tony nodded and turned to Michelle "What about you, 'Chell, want another?"

"No, you better not get me started tonight." She joked.

Tony smiled at Michelle before looking toward the kids "What about you two?" he joked.

Tyler answered "yes" jokingly, while Kaylee gave him a dirty look.

"She's one and she's already got 'Chell's sense of humour" he said, flinching away from Michelle's fake punch.

Jack smiled at them before looking at the clock "I guess I should probably go soon. I just wanted to check in, say hi. ...I have a lot to sort out."

Tony and Michelle nodded understandingly, both getting up to see him out.

---

"Take care Jack." Michelle said, giving him a hug before he and Tony walked to the car.

Jack nodded and said "bye."

When they got to the car, Tony gave Jack a hug, patting him on the back as he got into the car.

"You know you can call us any time." he said, more of a statement than a question.

Jack just shook his head.

"I'll catch ya later, Jack."

"Not if I see you first." Jack winked before he shut the door and drove off.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-Even Jack Bauer is afraid of something.

---

Jack got back to Chloe's around 3 in the afternoon. He hadn't been at Tony's for long, but he didn't want to go back right away, so he walked around for a bit. After knocking, Jack could hear Jake running for the door.

"Hi, Jack... I mean dad." Jake said smiling, then walking away with the door open. Definitely Chloe's son, Jack thought as he walked in and shut the door behind him.

"Hey, Jake. What's up?" he asked, sitting across from him in the living room.

"Nothing. Can we watch a movie?" Jake asked.

"I don't see a problem with that, where's your mom?"

"She's down stairs, doing the laundry." he said, pointing to the basement door "Can I pick?" he added as Jack walked toward the stairs.

"Sure."

---

Jack walked down the stairs slowly, sneaking up behind Chloe. "Hi" he said, startling her and causing her to jump back.

"Shit." she said, immediately slapping Jack on her arm. "You scared me."

"Don't be such a chicken and I wont." he said, teasing her.

She scowled at him, then rolled her eyes and got back to the laundry.

"Is it alright if Jake and I watch a movie upstairs?" Jack asked, grabbing some laundry and folding it.

"He's your son too, Jack. You don't have to ask, but yes." she replied.

"I know, it's just... I don't know him very much yet, and I don't know if you have rules or anything." he paused "I just don't want to mess things up." he confessed.

"It's a movie, Jack. You're not buying him a car or anything."

"Yeah... Anyway, wanna watch?" he smiled.

She laughed "Yeah. I'll be up in a bit, I'll just finish this load and come up."

"Why don't I stay and help you?" he said, moving in closer to her.

She looked at him to make sure he was serious before giving him room to fold. "Sure, why not."

He smiled and started to fold some towels.

"How were Tony and Michelle?" she asked

"Good." he said simply "Everything's changed." he added with a sigh.

"I know. It's hard, isn't it." she gave a reassuring smile.

Jack nodded "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be complaining. I've done it to you guys so many times, just left with out thinking of the change."

"Jack, don't. You know you didn't see any other options. You have the right to be freaked out, a lot has changed since you've been gone. It's hard on all of us, including you." Chloe replied, somewhat harshly.

"Sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to get mad, it's just... you're too hard on yourself all the time, it can't ALWAYS be your fault."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, want to go up and watch that movie now?" he said as he put the last of the laundry in the basket.

She smiled "Yep... what movie?"

He shrugged "Don't know, he's picking."

She rolled her eyes "Chloe rule #1, don't let him pick the movie too often, he picks the same ones... it get's slightly annoying."

Jack laughed "I'll keep that in mind for next time. For now though, I probably haven't seen them."

Jack picked up the basket and led the way up stairs, placing it on the floor.

Chloe gave him a glare "On the floor, Jack?"

"What, up stairs?" he said smiling and headed up stairs with the basket after recieving a nod from Chloe.

---

He came back down and Chloe was getting Jake some juice. Jake handed Jack the movie and asked him to set it up.

"Do you want anything to drink, Jack?" Chloe asked from the kitchen.

"Sure. Water, I guess." Jack said, fidgeting with the clicker. When he finally got it set up, he sat down at the end of the couch. "It's in." he announced.

"Okay, I'll be there in a sec." Chloe said, handing Jack a glass of water.

She came back and sat down beside Jack before calling Jake to come down for the movie.

---

Jake walked into the living room and smiled after seeing his parents sitting beside each other. He didn't fully understand everything, but he knew that's what parents do. "It's what uncle Tony and aunt Michelle do when they watch movies, so it must be normal", he thought to himself. "Plus, " he added "mommy looks happy."

"What are you smiling about, punk?" Chloe asked, noticing his thinking face.

"Nothing, just wanna watch the movie." he gave her a big grin.

"You've seen it a thousand times." he rolled her eyes.

"Not with dad." he replied, smiled at Jack.

Chloe smiled, that's the answer she was looking for.

"Come sit." Chloe patted the cushon next to her. "Or do you want to sit in the middle?"

"No, here's fine." he smiled, sitting on the chair beside the couch "I get the whole thing to myself." he smiled, really thinking that he didn't want to bother them.

Chloe shrugged, looking at Jack before hitting play and leaning into him.

---

When the movie started, she felt Jack tense. "Something wrong?" she asked, sitting up.

"Uh no, it's just...I didn't know there were fish in this movie." he trailed off slightly.

Chloe looked at him, confused. "Finding Nemo, Jack? It's about fish. Cute little cartoon fish..."

He cringed a bit, trying to hide it "I...uh..."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Fish?" she said, watching his chest as she said it. "You're afraid of fish?" she said, shocked. Jack Bauer, the man who has seen more shit than a dung beetle, afraid of fish.

She smiled and rolled her eyes a little. "I guess you have to be afraid of something..."

He winced a bit, rubbing the back of his neck "It's nothing, really." he said, looking at her nervously.

She laughed "We can watch something else, if you want. I'm sure Jake wont mind."

He shrugged "No, it's alright. I'm fine... just caught me off guard, that's all." he said, leaning back on the couch.

She rolled her eyes again "Alright, if you insist." she said, leaning back into him.

He put his arms around her, squeezing slightly, enough to comfort him and not to hurt her.

She smiled, rubbing his arm and settling into him more comfortably.

---

Jack could feel his heart picking up pace and his chest tighten a bit, he just wasn't sure if it was the movie or Chloe's proximity causing it.  
Regardless of which, he watched the movie with Chloe curled into him. He could tell Chloe was relaxed and just enjoyed it how it was.

---

When the movie was over, Jake popped up from the chair and onto the couch.

"Sup, mis amigos?" he asked, crawling in between them.

Jack relaxed a bit and smiled and sat Jake on his lap "Enjoy the movie, Jake-o?"

Jake smiled and nodded "Did you?"

"Yeah, it wasn't bad. Not my type of movie though." he said, honestly.

"Because you're afraid of fish?" he exclaimed, in somewhat of a question.

"Yeah..." he answered, looking at Chloe for a second before turning back to Jake.

"Why are you afraid of them?" Jake asked.

Jack thought, he didn't fully know why he was afraid of them. All he knew was something from his childhood made him horrably aftaid of them. "Just something I've always been afraid of, I guess."

"It's okay." Jake said, hugging him "I'm afraid of the basement!" he added "I never go down there without someone else." he smiled.

Jack laughed a little "You know, when my daughter was younger, her mother got her a fish and I didn't go into her room for two months, I was so scared of them." he said

"What made you stop being afraid of them?" Jake asked.

Jack laughed again "Nothing. I never stopped, she gave it to her friend across the street. Said she understood my fear and wanted me to be okay."

"You have a daughter?" Jake asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, Kimberly. She's older now, in her 20's." Jack answered

"Yeah, honey, you know Kim. She's Jack's daughter." Chloe said.

"Really?" Jake said, excitedly, then paused "What does that make me and Kim than?"

Jack smiled, better to explain it now than later. "She would be your sister."

"Even though she's not mommy's daughter?" he asked.

"When people only have one parent in common, like you and Kim, it's called half-brother, or half-sister. So, she's your half-sister, if you want to get technical." Chloe explained a little further, trying not to confuse him.

"Oh. So I have a big sister?" he said smiling.

"Yes, I guess you do." Jack said, glad this conversation was going as smoothly as it was, knowing it could have been so much worse. A lot of kids, especially ones around his age wouldn't be half as understanding of... any part of this situation, and here he is, taking all of it like a glass of milk.

"Cool. I like Kim, she's nice." Jake exclaimed.

"I think so too." He smiled, he would have to call her after all.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, he did, he was just afraid how she would react, he didn't want to fight with her. After last time, she was pretty mad at him... Well, things have changed, maybe that has too, he thought.

* * *

I'll leave it there for now. Hope you like it and will continue reading. I'm already working on an idea for a later chapter, maybe the one after the next. We'll see how it goes.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 -

---

After a few hours, Jack decided to leave. He and Chloe had spent the afternoon playing and hanging out with Jake, like a normal family.  
He figured he should leave sooner rather than later because he wanted to talk to Kim and he would just end up delaying the inevitable, making it harder on himself in the end.  
So he decided that he would say goodbye while he had the time to talk things over with Kim.

---

On his drive back to his hotel-actually the first time he'd been back since check in, he contemplated what would be better, calling her and either talking over the phone or asking to come over, or just going over.

Either seemed to have their pros and cons, he just didn't know which to do. Calling would give her a chance to settle into his being back, but it would also make it easier to hang up. He also didn't want her to feel like he was pushing her by showing up out of the blue...

By the time he got to the hotel, he had decided to call and ask to meet up. She was his daughter, he knew she loved him and would probably want to talk.  
Especially since he now has a son and so much has changed, in his life and hers. He didn't know any specifics of her personal life, just what Chloe had told him.

---

So, when he got into his room, he sat on the chair beside the phone and took out the small piece of paper with Kim's name and number on it. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?" Kim answered.

Taking another deep breath, "Hi, honey." he replied, wincing at the thought of her reaction.

"Dad?" she said, sounding shocked. "Dad, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Kim."

"Oh my god. When did you get back?" she said, sounding pleased to hear his voice.

"I got back on Friday night... sorry I'm just getting around to calling you now. There's been-" he was cut off.

"No, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're back. Are you busy, where are you?"

Jack smiled "I'm at the Sutherland hotel, South Hope and Leslie. We could meet somewhere, if you want. I've got time." he said, taking yet another deep breath.

"Yeah. That would be great. I've got some time now, if you wanted to meet up. I could go over there, if you want."

"Sure, that would be fine. I'll meet you in the lounge and we'll head up to my room or something. Sound good?" he said, hopeful.

"Yeah, dad. That would be fine, I'll be there in half an hour." Kim replied.

Jack smiled with a sigh "Okay, sweetheart. I'll see you then."

With that, they both hung up and got ready.

---

Half an hour later, Kim walked into the hotel and nervously looked around for Jack. On the way over, she contemplated calling back to cancel.  
She wanted to see him, but she was afraid. She was afraid she might say something wrong, or they would start fighting... she didn't want to fight with him anymore. She loved him and she wanted him to know that.

So, walking through the doors, she took a deep breath as she located her father, smiling as he stood up and waved her over.

"Hey dad." she said, pulling up a seat.

He smiled back as he sat down "You look good, Kim."

"Thanks. You do too, it's nice to see you dad."

"Yeah, I could use a shave though." he added, rubbing his stubble chin.

"You look fine, dad." she laughed, brushing back his hair.

"Hey now" Jack joked pushing his hair foreword. "I look old enough as it is."

"You look fine, dad." she said, giving Jack a big smile.

"Do you want to go up stairs now, or hang out here?" he asked.

"Here's fine, if that's alright with you." Kim said, looking around.

"That's fine with me, want something to eat or drink?" he asked, seeking out a waiter.

"Sure, I'll have a coffee" she replied.

Jack smiled, looking at the waiter "two coffees, please."

The waiter nodded and walked away, coming back a few seconds later with the drinks.

---

"So, how long did you say you have been back?" Kim asked.

"I got in Friday night. I spent the night at CTU because of medical and debrief though." Jack said. Kim nodding her head, understanding. "Then I went to see Chloe..." he added.

Kim swallowed abruptly and looked at him.

He smiled, everyone seemed to pause at the mention of Chloe... "She had some interesting news for me." he paused "It's name was Jake." he smiled at her again.

"Do you know what's going to happen now?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Not really, not yet anyway. I want to eventually, hopefully work things out with Chloe and take it from there, I miss her so much. I want to be a part of his life, you know."

"Yeah" she replied "Don't worry so much, she really likes you, dad." she smiled.

Jack sighed "Yeah, I just don't want it to end up like everything else." he ran his hands through his hair "I'm sorry, Kim. I shouldn't be putting this on you. We can change the subject."

Kim smiled "No, I like having talks like this with you. It's been a long time."

"It has, hasn't it?" he said, holding her hand. "I love you sweetheart."

"I love you too, dad." she said, rubbing his hand.

---

"So, how are things with you?"

She smiled "Good. Angela's going to be in a school play next month, I'm sure she'd like it if you came."

"Wow, she must be so big now." he smiled.

"Yeah, she's getting pretty big. It's amazing, you know. I know I'm not her mother, but sometimes... I totally understand what you were talking about now, why you did things."

He nodded "That you would do anything for her?" he said smiling.

"Yeah. It's amazing, isn't it. What a child can do to you?"

"I never understood it until her. I mean, it makes me think about how I acted toward you with everything that happened. I feel so bad for treating you like that."

Jack smiled "Don't worry about it, I wouldn't have understood having to deal with everything I put you through. I'm sorry, Kim."

"Dad, don't be. I told you, I understand now. I'd do it for Angela in a second-because I love her."

"Thanks, sweetheart. So, you're back with Chase now?"

She smiled "Yeah, we got back together a few months after you left- around when I found out Chloe was pregnant."

"Yeah, Chloe told me you were there when he was born." he smiled.

"I had to, I couldn't just not be there for my brother. And I wanted to be there for Chloe, I knew you would want me to be there for her since you couldn't. Though I was kind of surprised by it." she smiled.

He smiled back. "The baby, or Chloe and I?" he asked, some what teasingly.

she smirked "You know what I mean, dad. I just didn't really pin her as your type, that's all. Not that I didn't see it coming on some level, just never really crossed my mind."

"I have a type?" he laughed.

"Well, sort of. I mean, you usually go for the damsel in distress. Well, that and the nice, kind-hearted happy type... It's just, Chloe's different." she shrugged.

He laughed again "Damsel in distress?"

"You know what I mean, people like Kate and Audrey- both nice, good looking women, both relatively needy and have a habit of needing to be rescued."

"So you don't think Chloe's nice or good-looking?" he said, teasing her again.

"You know what I mean, she's just different. She's not like them, she's..."

"Different?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean it in a good way. It's weird, but... they never seemed right for you. Chloe...fits. As weird as she seems, she fits with you.  
She doesn't constantly need your help, or reassurance, she understands you more than you probably understand yourself. I'm happy for you." she said, saving herself from him making her feel bad.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay with it." he smiled lightly, taking the pressure of Kim to say the right thing. "And thank you for being there, it really does mean a lot to me."

She smiled "Any time."

---

Just then, her phone rang. She rolled her eyes, looking at the name. "It's Chase, probably wondering where I am. They were out when I left..."

"Go ahead, I'll be here." he smiled and shooed her away.

She came back a few minutes later, sitting down as she put her phone in her bag.

---

"Sorry."

"No problem, is everything okay, Kim?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was just checking up on me." she laughed.

He smiled "I'm very glad you're here."

She nodded and smiled "So, how did the mission go?"

"Fine. Long though. Longer than I wanted, but I got it done and nobody got hurt... well, nobody who didn't deserve it, anyway."

"Are you going to go back to CTU after?" she asked.

He took a deep breath before answering "You know, I was thinking about it, but, I don't know. I don't want to be going on these missions any more.  
I'm too old and I've got too much to just leave behind. I don't want to be that guy anymore. The guy who can just up and leave everything, every one at the drop of a hat because someone needs him to, I can't do it anymore.  
Look where it's left me." he said, rubbing his face again. "I just don't want to let them down like I let you down. I couldn't stand seeing you like that. I love you too much."

"I love you too, daddy." she said, smiling.

---

Kim was suddenly lost in a thought.

"You alright, Kim?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking. We don't have anything special planned out tonight, but would you like to come over for dinner sometime, and catch up some more?"

He smiled, thankful she wanted him back in her life. "Sure, I would like that."

"Great, I'll talk with Chase and we'll make plans for you to come over. Chloe too." she smiled.

He nodded "I would like that very much, Kim."

"Alright. I should probably get back though, I promised I would help Angela with her homework tonight."

"Alright, honey. I'll talk to you later. Say hello for me."

"I will, dad." she said, hugging him good bye.

"See you later" he said, waving as she exited the building.

---

He then headed up stairs to his hotel room for a much needed rest, it had been a long few days. Things seemed to be working out, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. He didn't want to jinx things, knowing his luck at life, it was never a good idea to take things for granted.

When Jack got into his room, he immediately flopped on the couch that was right in front of him instead of walking the extra six or seven steps it would have taken him to get to the bed and passed out pretty much right away, not bothering to take his shoes or jacket off.

* * *

AN: This took me an odd amount of time to write. I wasn't sure how to go about the whole Kim thing, but I ultimately decided to just take it as it goes.

Anyway, hopefully you like it. If not, tell me why.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 -

---

Jack awoke a few hours later by the ringing of his phone. He groaned as he opened his eyes to look at the clock. "9am" he growled, rubbing his neck, stiff from the couch.

He then looked over at the table, on which his phone was shakily dancing and spinning as it rung. With another groan, he stood up and walked over, picking it up off the table and answering it.

"Bauer." he answered, rolling his eyes that Bill was calling him after giving him time off for another three weeks, or until he decided to stay or quit... right now, he was leaning on the quit side.

"Hey, Jack. It's Bill. I'm sorry to bother you, but something didn't pan out with the mission logs."

"What do you mean something didn't pan out?" he replied gruffly.

"There are a few minor problems, would you mind coming in to take a look and clear it up? It should only take a few seconds, Division has been riding me all morning."

"All morning? IT'S FUCKING 9AM!" Jack though to himself before nodding and answering. "I guess it's fine, I'll be there in about an hour." he said with an annoyed tone to show his appreciation of being woken up and brought in on his time off.

"Thanks, Jack. See you then." Bill replied before hanging up.

---

Jack walked to his suitcase and searched around for a clean shirt to wear and put it didn't bother changing his pants, but his shirt seemed to have a spot of drool for some reason.  
He shrugged, picking up his wallet and watch before heading out the door.

---

Jack sighed as he walked in the doors to CTU and dealt with security before heading over to Bill.  
Jack looked around CTU, registering some of the new faces there. He had some dealings with most of them at some point during his missions and some that were there before he left, but he hadn't really known them.  
He looked over to Chloe's station and smiled. She was working very hard, as usual.

---

Just then, Tony came up to him. "Hey, Jack. I though you had the next couple of weeks off?" he asked.

Jack nodded "Yeah, I do. Bill just needs me to go over a few things first."

Tony nodded "Alright, I'll see you later than." he added, walking away.

---

Before Jack went up to Bill's office, he walked over to Chloe to see how she was doing.

"Hi Jack." she said smiling, before letting out a slight frown "What are you doing here?"

"Bill just wanted me to go over a few things that seemed off. It shouldn't take long though."

"Oh, okay. As long as nothings wrong than."

"Nope, just wanted to say hi first, that's all." he smiled.

"Alright. Hi, Jack. Bye, Jack."

Jack laughed as he said bye and continued to Bill's office.

---

When he got up, Bill was on the phone so he knocked on the door and waited for Bill to respond. Sure enough, Bill waved him in, while wrapping up his call.

"Hello, Jack. Come on in." Bill said, offering him a seat.

Jack sat down in front of Bill's desk. "Good morning, Bill."

"You too, Jack. How is everything?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"Fine, been catching up with a few people here and there. You wanted me to look at something?"

"Uh, yes. Hold on, let me get it." Bill said, getting up and looking through his filing cabinet, pulling out a folder and sat back down.  
"Alright" he said, looking inside the folder, "Can you look over the mission files and make sure everything is correct, they seem to have some issue with the timing of some of the jobs."

"Sure." he said, taking the folder from Bill and begun reading it.

His alias' file was on top,

_Henrik Revitan, September 14, 1966_

_Minsk, U.S.S.R. _

_Belorussian arms dealer; Soviet/Russian military experience_

_Ranked highly dangerous; has Russian, German and American allies_

_Speaks fluent Russian, German, and English_

_Carries many scars from duties and five known tattoos, including Belarus military symbol on right shoulder blade _

_Current workings –_

_Private dealing with Russian/German affiliates_

_Connected to 'Milzuk bratva'' by recent transactions_

_Current position and status unknown_

it went on to say more about "him", but he decided to just skim through that part. Moving on, it went into the mission- when it begun, where he stayed, who he worked with...ect.

Everything was right up until he got to one of the big jobs he did with Rubin Petrov, the log suggested that it took place with a Ilya Marikov... looking further, there were several differences to what had actually went on.

"Bill, these logs are incorrect. Someone has tampered with them, I'm sure of it."

"What do you mean?" Bill asked, concerned.

"We did the exchange with an American, Mike Anderson. It says here it was with a Russian, Ilya Marikov. Marikov was an informant processor who gave us the clients contacts.  
Anderson's name has been taken out completely, there's nothing about him or his men in this. Someone had to have changed it."

"Are you sure?" Bill asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. Are the files on the computer the same, could they have just been taken out of here by accident?" Jack asked, walking over to Bill's desk to see the files.

"You can take a look, but I'm pretty sure it's the same." Bill said, moving over.

---

"Dammit!" he yelled under his breath. "Why would someone take him out of this?"

"Do you think he has any connections with the government, maybe he found out or something." Bill said, rubbing his face in frustration.

"I don't know, maybe. There was something about this deal though... Who had access to the files?"

Bill nodded "No one that I know of, nobody at CTU. I could call Division and see who has been on it there..."

"No, I want Chloe to look into it first, see if she can find out who has modified them."

Bill nodded again "Alright. I'll call her up, she can work with you up here. It'll be easier."

Jack shook his head and took a seat beside Bill's desk.

Bill put the phone on speaker and dialed Chloe's station.

"O'Brian"

"Yes, Chloe. Can you come up to my office, I need you to work on something with Jack."

"Is something wrong?"

"It's possible, we need you to do a trace on a file from his mission, somethings have been changed that shouldn't have. We just want to make sure."

"Alright, be right up." She said, hanging up the phone and freezing her station before she left.

---

"So, did you talk to Chloe over the weekend?"

"Yeah, I think we're going to try and work things out." Jack said, watching Chloe walk up the stairs.

"Good for you." Bill said simply.

---

Just then, Chloe knocked on the door and walked in after receiving a wave from Bill.

"Hi, Mr. Buchanan, Jack." she greeted them, assuming position at Bill's computer.

"Alright, some of the information in these files have been changed. Jack will show you which ones, we're hoping you can find out who, or at least where and when they were changed, leading to an answer of why." Bill informed her briefly "I'll be on the floor if you need me." he added as he left them to it.

---

Chloe looked over at Jack "Wont take long, huh?" Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I guess I was wrong. He said there were some inconsistencies, he didn't say what they were though."

She nodded, knowing how this job was "So, how did it go with Kim?"

"Good. She does like you, you know."

Chloe rolled her eyes "Yeah, because no one's ever lied about liking someone to make their dad happy."

"I can tell. It's me Chloe, trust me, she likes you. She's never lied about liking any of my other girlfriends before either." he said smirking.

"Well, you never had a kid with any of them either. There's a bit of a difference, Jack."

He mocked her glare "Yeah, but she said you were weird."

"What's that supposed to mean? How do you get her liking me from calling me weird?"

"You are weird. Unlike most other women I've been with, you aren't like them. You trust me in ways they never could. There are so many ways we work, she sees that."

"Doesn't mean she likes me..."

"Alright, she's a Bauer. She-" Chloe cut him off.

"She what, wouldn't do anything she doesn't want to, like go on missions for an undetermined amount of time? Come on, Jack. She's just like you, she does what's right.  
I am grateful, I am, I just know she doesn't like me. I'm fine with that, not many people do."

He rolled his eyes. In a way, he knew she was right, even if Kim didn't like her she would have been there for Chloe. In his heart though, he knew she liked her, he could sense it.

---

Just then, the computer beeped, breaking him out of thought.

"Found it, Jack." Chloe said, waving him over.

"What does it say?" he asked, walking around to her.

She paused to read the screen "It wasn't division. Someone named Andrew Marks."

He leaned over her shoulder to read the screen himself "Andrew Marks...do a check on Mike Anderson, see if anything matches up."

"Different birth date, but same age, different city, but same state. Hair colour, eyes match, same height too."

"Hold on, I'll call up Bill." Jack said, dialing the phone.

Chloe continued searching the files for any more inconsistencies or information she could find.

Bill walked in "Hey, guys, what's up?"

"It looks like Mike Anderson is an alias for Andrew Marks. He's in Washington, works for a mega-corporation there and in Canada. Looks like he did some dealings to fend off some people after his company.  
He also has some connections with the head of state, likely why he had it erased." Chloe said, looking over to Jack when she finished.

"Why would he need to erase it, it wasn't under his name. They saw his ID, it looked convincing enough to fool them, he couldn't do that on his own. He had to be working for someone. The deal was too big for a simple trick." Jack replied.

"Chloe, can you set up a profile, cross-reference his files and everything from the mission, including the background stuff. If there's something he's hiding, we need to know about it." Bill said, getting a nod from Chloe as she went to work.

"Do you want me to do it at my station?" She asked

"No, that's fine. Jack, can you come with me?" Bill asked, walking over to the door.

Jack looked over to Chloe before answering "Yeah, sure."

---

Jack and Bill walked down to the conference room before talking.

"Jack, I know I gave you the rest of the month off, but we may need you on this one. If it turns into a real problem, you are the only one who knows him and can get in with him. Will you be able to do this for us?"

Jack nodded with a sigh "Yeah." he said, cursing himself inside. Why the fuck was he always doing this?

"Alright, I'll have Tony and his team on your backup, just in case. I'll get Shawn to run comm..." Bill said, looking at Jack "unless you want Chloe to..."

"Yeah." Jack nodded.

"Okay. I'll go get Tony briefed so we can be ready."

Jack sighed as he followed Bill out of the room and up to Bill's office to see how Chloe was holding up.

---

"Bill ask you to go in?" Chloe sighed

"Yeah."

"Figured. Also, it doesn't look like he knows anything about you you, just wanted to change the name.  
Couldn't find much else on him though, but it does look like he's in connections with other traffickers and some anti-american organization." she said with a frown. "I guess this means, you have to go in?"

"Yeah. Tony and his team will be on my backup, and if you're okay with it, I'd like you to run comm for this." Jack asked, knowing it was a lot to ask.

"Yeah, fine. Should I write up your profile, where you've been and what not?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

"Alright, so you are Henrik Revitan, you've been keeping a low profile since the bust, but you need some other connections and you found his work through a mutual partner "Maurice Lindon", who you met before doing business with him during the mission on a small operation with Canada and the Russians."

"Alright, thanks Chlo'." Jack said, smiling at her. "By the way, Kim invited us to dinner some time... she doesn't know when yet, but she'll work it out and call us."

Chloe rolled her eyes as he walked out of the room.

* * *

A/N: Ugh. It took me a long time to write this chapter because I had a relative staying over and it hindered my creative flow, as lame as that sounds. I've also been quite busy with other stuff going on.

So there it is, hope you liked it.

~Mae


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 –

---

Jack finished getting ready and headed towards Bill "Alright, Bill. I'm ready to go."

Bill nodded "Okay, Jack. Tony will be hidden, but readily available if something happens and Chloe's running comm. Thanks for doing this by the way." Bill said, shaking Jack's hand.

"Thanks Bill, no problem." Jack said, walking over to Chloe's station.

"I'll see you when I get back?" he offered

She smiled slightly awkwardly "Yeah."

He nodded, taking his ear piece before walking down the hall to the garage.

---

When he got to the car, he rested his head on the steering wheel for a second before starting it up.  
"Come on, Jack. One last thing before you're done, then you can get away from CTU." he said to himself as he pulled out of the garage.

---

The drive was silent as he went through his profile in his head and thought about what to do when he got there.  
He figured he would go in like nothings wrong and see what happens. He was prepared to take action, if necessary, but got the feeling it wouldn't be too bad.  
On the last few blocks, he started working on his accent again. It wasn't too hard, having just got back from using the accent for 4 years, he had become some what accustom to it.  
That being done, he felt he was ready just as he pulled into the shop parking lot.  
"Alright, I'm here. I'm going in calm and seeing where it goes. Stand down unless I call." Jack said on his comm over Tony and Chloe's lines.

---

He got out of the car and casually walked over to the shop and stepped inside.

"Hello, is Mike Anderson there, please." he said to the guy at the front.

"Um, hold on a sec." the man said, walking into the back. Jack could hear him talking "some big russian dude asking for you." he said, then hearing a gruff sigh from Anderson before seeing he door open.

"How can I help you, sir." Anderson said as he came to the front "Oh." he said, seeing Jack, or _" Henrik Revitan"_.

"Oh?" _Henrik_ repeated, questioning his surprise.

"No, forgive me, I just wasn't expecting to see you."

_Henrik_ nodded "Thats good. Long time, no?"

Anderson laughed "It's been quite long, what brings you to the country?" he asked, Jack could sense some nervous hostility.

He cocked his head to the side a bit "Business, why else." he smiled "just here to take care of a few little things, than I'm off."

"A few little things? I hope nothings wrong." he said, immediately regretting it.

He smirked again "Nothing really, some problem with authority here involving my good comrade. I come to fix."

Anderson nodded "Yeah, I got ya. Well good luck, now I have some work to do, some shipping and stuff." he said, taking a step back.

---

"Actually, mind if we talk?" _Henrik_ said in a deep tone, stopping Anderson in his tracks.

"Um, I guess not, though I don't know how much I could possibly help." he said, clearly nervousness in his tone.

He smiled and took a step toward him"Never know, might know more than you think."

"That so? I suppose it wouldn't be a problem. Ask away, old friend."

---

"Luke, why don't you go on brake while..." he trailed off, forgetting his name

"Henrik."

"Right, while Henrik and I have a talk. We shouldn't be too long." he smiled

"Yeah... sure." he said, looking _Henrik_ over as he left the shop.

---

_Henrik_ smiled "Nice guy, he deal too?"

"No, no. He's just an associate, he doesn't know anything."

_Henrik_ nodded "I see." he said, again walking closer to Anderson.

"Yes, well. I don't do much dealing these days either. That's why I don't believe I'd be much assistance to you and your friend. I'm deeply sorry though, I hope nothing bad comes of it, I know how our system can be."

_Henrik_ nodded again, lighting up a cigarette before speaking. "Yes, your government has a way of...getting what they think right." he laughed "but uh, I have some information that is rather...concerning that you might know about." he added, a little harsher than before.

"Really? I'm not sure what you mean." he said, breathing harder.

"Oh, but I think you do. In fact, I know you do, Marks."

His face went blank "Marks? Who are you talking about?"

"Cut the shit, alright." he raised his voice "I know damn well who you are and you better work with me or I kill you." he said, pulling out his gun.

"I swear, Henrik, listen. My name is Andrew Marks, Mike Anderson was a fake name for the deal, I swear. I'm not a dealer, I only did it that once."

"Shut up, stupid." he yelled, pointing the gun at him. "I know that, you framed Marikov! What I don't know is why, and you better talk before I lose my patience."

"Alright, I swear, I didn't mean to do any harm. I thought he was just some guy, I didn't know he meant anything to you, I wouldn't have done it if I knew, I swear. Please, I didn't-" he was cut off by the gun hitting his cheek.

"Shut up! I don't care you are sorry. Who are you working for?"

"No one, I swear, I only did that deal. I told you."

_Henrik _took a deep breath "Fuck you are stupid. WHO THE FUCK DO YOU WORK FOR? Why would you change a fake name, why did you use Marikov?"

"Okay, listen, I had to do it. The guy I work for, he's a big government official. He lost the weapons in the deal and told me I had to get them back. After I got them in the deal with you, he said Mike Anderson was too close and he didn't want to be traced back to it, so he gave me the name. I didn't know it was anyone on your team, I swear."

"You better hope you tell truth, if anything happens to Marikov, I hold you responsible."

"I swear, I can talk to him, see if he can let it go. I mean, I can say it was just a mistake in the paper work or something."

He leaned in and stared at Marks "Fine. I let you go for now." he said, holstering his gun and butting his cigarette on the counter  
"You better hope we don't talk again...might not be much talking." he said, leaving the shop and entering his vehicle.

---

He took a deep breath before opening his comm. "Get that?" he asked.

"Yes, Jack. I'm checking it out now, seems to be legit." Chloe answered.

"Alright thanks." Jack said, resting his head on the steering wheel again.

"You don't have to come back to CTU. Bill's calling back Tony and his team and he said you can just go home if you want and pick up again some other time since it's not a threat." Chloe said, sensing Jack's hesitation.

"Alright, thanks Chlo'. I'm probably going to take him up on that, if that's alright."

"Yeah, fine. I'll see you whenever." she said awkwardly.

He laughed "I'll call you after work."

"Alright...you don't need to, you know. I mean, if you want you can but.-"

"Chloe, it's alright, I want to." he smiled.

"Okay. See you." she said fast, rolling her eyes... he was always cutting her off. Than again, she was always over-analyzing everything out loud around him, maybe that was why.

She shrugged, taking out her ear piece and freezing her screen while she went on a much needed break. So much for a slow day. Though it did feel like it wasn't moving, not even noon and it felt like a full day.

* * *

A/N: I had this finished a day or two ago, but it wouldn't let me upload it. I'm part way through the next chapter, which should be up in a day or two.

Anyway, I hope you like it, let me know what you think so far.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Jack Bauer; Registered ass-hole with a gun

---

Jack drove in silence after shutting off the radio, tired of hearing the same bullshit over and over.  
For some reason, he started to get really irritated with everything, the radio, the drive, himself.  
After noticing this, he opted to go to the hotel bar instead of his room, where he should have been going.

---

He was usually careful of when he drank because he knew how he got after a few too many on a bad day.  
Today was different; he knew he was already in a bad mood and that he shouldn't be drinking, especially with so much going on. He honestly didn't give a shit.  
The way he figured, he was going to be there for Chloe and Jake. He loved Chloe so much and didn't want to leave her for the mission in the first place and now he had a son.  
He didn't want things to end like they had before in all his previous relationships-including that of his daughter.

Yet he still went out today like nothing had happened, not that he had much of a choice this time, but he hated the feeling that he was letting the people who mattered to him down.  
He wasn't sure if he was going to quit CTU completely, but this same old leaving everyone bullshit had to stop.

---

He couldn't call on his usual drinking folk, even if it was his last day as Jack Bauer, 'registered ass-hole with a gun'. He the only one out of work at noon on a Monday, not to mention the lectures that would ensue.  
He knew they wouldn't understand, hell he didn't even understand, but he needed a day to write off and forget everything for a while.

That being said, he opted for the safer choice of sitting at the bar and see what comes of it, then, if it got boring, he could ring up some old Marine buddies or something.

---

So, he parked his car, slamming the door shut and grumbling slightly as he walked over to the bar.  
Sitting at the nearest stool in front of the bar, he rubbed his head, thinking while waiting for the bar tender to take his order.

"Hey honey." a very good looking, female bartender said, snapping him back into the present.

"Honey?" he asked, realizing she was talking to him.

She laughed "I'm Melody." she said, extending her hand.

He laughed, shaking her hand. "I'm Jack."

She smiled "Hey, Jack. What'll you have?"

"Vodka, please." he answered, looking at his watch.

"Gotta be somewhere?" she asked, handing him the drink.

He shrugged "No, just a habit, I guess." he said, taking a drink.

He looked at the glass as he put it on the table, Smirnoff just didn't cut it when you've been living off the good stuff "You got any real vodka?"

She laughed "Sorry, just Smirnoff."

He frown "In that case, got any whiskey?"

She laughed again "Yeah, sure. Jack or Jamison?"

He sighed before answering "Jamison, please."

She nodded and poured him a drink. "So, life troubling you lately?" she asked, leaning on the bar.

He smiles "What makes you say that?" he asked, finishing his drink.

"Well," she started "It's the middle of the day, you're alone and you finished two drinks in the last few minutes. It's the drowning sorrows trademark."

He smiled "Don't worry about me, I'm just going through a bit of a transformation, that's all." he said, finishing yet another drink.

"Get a new job or something?" she asked, receiving his gesture for another drink.

"No" he laughed "Might be quitting one, though." he said taking a sip of his drink, trying to make it last longer than the others.

"Normal people usually save the heavy mid-day drinking to when they get canned."

He laughed "Normal people don't have my job, plus, I probably wont be drinking like this much after today."

"What, are you some kind of secret CIA agent?" she asked, filling his glass.

"Something like that." he mumbled.

"No shit, really?" she said, surprised "Ever shoot someone?"

He laughed under his breath "You could say that."

"What's it like?"

"Shooting someone?" he questioned her.

She laughed "No the CIA-or whoever you work for."

He looked at her for a second before taking a drink "Why do you think I'm quitting?"

"That bad? So what do you do?" she asked.

He laughed again "Bit of this, bit of that."

"No, really. I've always been interested in that sort of stuff, my father was a police officer."

He smiled "Well, I'm a field agent for a anti-terrorist agency. I tend to go on thankless, almost always life threatening missions that I usually get in shit for in some way or another.

And I'm seen by many as 'Jack Bauer, registered ass-hole with a gun' both inside and outside the agency." he paused "Sorry, I'm just feeling sorry for myself. I could have said no a long time ago." he shrugged, taking another drink.

She smiled softly "Well, I for one, think you are a hero, not an ass-hole, with or without the gun."

He smiled back with a sigh.

---

The conversation went on for a while, her asking question about his personal and professional life, among other things, all the while pouring him countless drinks.

After a few hours, she looked at the clock, noticing her shift ending soon.

"Listen" she begun "My shift ends in a few minutes and, I know you are going though a rough time, but if you want, I have some real vodka at my room, up stairs, and if you are interested..." she said, putting her hand over his on the bar.

He looked up, trying to read the situation. "uh" he stumbled to think what to say.

"Come on, you know you want to, plus, like you said, you probably wont be doing anything like this after today." she said smiling, stroking his hand.

He took her hand in his and looked at it before nodding his head "You are very...very attractive and as...as much as I would like to...go with you, I can't." he said, now realizing how drunk he was.

"Aww, why not?" she said, once again stroking his palm.

He took a deep breath "I..I have a son."

"So, I know lots of people with kids." she smiled at him.

He put his head down on the bar for a second, trying to form a complete sentence in his head "I could be your dad." he said hoping she would let it go.

She laughed, seductively "No. You're too cute to be my dad."

He shut his eyes tight for a second, trying to process the situation. As persistent as she was, he... his train of thought disappeared as she began doing more suggestive gestures.

He took another deep breath "Listen, you're beautiful, and I'm sure if things were different, I might accept, but I really just came for a drink.

I mean, I'm trying to get a hold of my life and not fuck it up again. I have a girlfriend...I think. It's complicated, but I just don't want to give up on it, you know?

I'm sorry for wasting your time, but thanks for your company. See ya." he said, putting his money on the counter and getting up.

"Don't worry" she smiled "Misery loves company, right?" she said, letting his hand go.

---

As he slowly stumbled out of the bar and into the hotel lobby on the way to his room, he suddenly dropped on the ground. Melody saw him fall and ran over to see if he was alright.

* * *

A/N:

Sorry it took me a while to post this. I actually had it done a few days ago but I just finished typing it up. Hope you like it.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

---

A few hours later, Jack awoke to the extreme pain and dizziness of being halfway between drunk, hungover and the feeling of falling on your face.

As soon as he opened his eyes, his pounding head sent him into a cower which, in turn, sent his stomach into overdrive as he begun to feel the result of heavy mid-day drinking on an empty stomach.

He slowly got up and using the wall for support, quickly made his way to the bathroom, just barley making it before throwing up.

---

After finishing, he fell to the floor with a groan, unable to remain holding himself up any longer. He opened his eyes after the room stopped spinning so much to look around.

He couldn't remember making it to his room, but looking around didn't help as he couldn't remember for the life of him what his room looked like, but he guessed it probably was and he just didn't remember.

---

Before anything else entered his mind, he heard someone's voice. He stood up quickly and then lost his balance, falling onto the floor again, shaking slightly as he looked up to see the bar tender from last night standing in front of him.

"Fuck" he thought to himself, not recalling what had happened after he left the bar...including leaving the bar.

He didn't sleep with her, there's no way...but why was she here? "Shit shit shit! Why can't I think or remember anything?" he thought to himself.

---

She noticed the concern on his face and slowly walked toward him, unsure of the state he was in. She knelt down and handed him a glass of water and aspirin.

Not saying anything, he just looked at her as he swallowed down the aspirin and finished off the water before resting his head on his knees.

"Um, why...what, uh. How did I, uh, you know, get here... or whatever." he slurred, definitely still drunk.

"You passed out in the lobby, hit your head pretty bad, so I got them to help you up to my room.

They would have taken you in if you were there too long and I didn't think you should be alone when you woke up...I guess it was a good thing" she said, eyeing the toilet.

"Oh, sorry." he mumbled, flushing. "So we didn't...you know...right?"

She laughed "No. You don't remember?"

He shook his head "I remember being at the bar...drinking, talking to you... and everything is pretty much blur at best." he said, gripping his head. "I'm never drinking again..." he growled

She laughed again "I'm betting you've said that before. In all fairness, it's probably my fault. I should have cut you off half-way through the bottle."

"God. How much did I drink?" he asked.

"A lot, I attempted to cut you off, but you seemed like you needed to talk, plus, I think you're hot."

He raised an eyebrow at her "Um, listen." he said, awkwardly "Thanks and everything, but I have to go... I...I need...?" he paused, forgetting what he planned to say.

"Some sleep, in my opinion. Trust me, you don't need to be doing anything, you aren't in the right state of mind to be doing anything anyway." she smiled.

"No sleep. I uh, I ..." He said, looking around the room, trying to piece things together.

"You...can't make a sentence? Jack, come on. I know you aren't comfortable being here, but you're still drunk and on the verge of a hangover.

I've dealt with things like this before, you should rest, maybe eat or something before you go talk to her."

He was about to respond when he felt his stomach again and groaned as he slumped over the toilet.

He took a deep breath after wiping his mouth "I know, I look and feel like shit, but I can't just not call her. What will she think? I told her I'd call her after her shift, but... I was too fucked up and she probably thinks I disappeared again or...or" he threw up again, cringing from the pain in his stomach and his head.

She rolled her eyes "Are you always this stubborn, or just when you're drunk?"

He looked up at her "You should see Chloe." he smiled "I guess we're more alike than I thought...both stubborn to the point of annoyance."

She smiled "Sounds like your perfect match."

---

"Oh, hold on a sec.." she said, walking out of the room.

He sat there, not wanting to get up in fear he'd puke again.

Seconds later, she walked in with his phone. "Uh, I took this from you when you fell, I thought it would be more comfortable. Um, it rang a couple times." she added, handing it to him.

His face froze "Did you answer it?" he said, more as an accusation.

"No, it's none of my business, plus I figured it was your girlfriend...didn't think I'd be who she wanted to hear."

He shot up "Chloe?" he asked as more of a statement, grasping onto the door to keep from falling again.

"Could be, didn't look like a contact of yours, just call ID." she said, helping him to the chair.

"Shit shit shit!" he said, rubbing his face, trying to sober up, but to no avail. "I was supposed to call her tonight...yesterday, after work...her work, when she got home. Fuck."

"I'm sure she's just worried, not mad. If she's the one you were talking about last night, it sounds like she loves you."

"I... I, I gotta call her. " he said, attempting to stand.

"Listen, I'd wait until you're sober so you don't say something stupid."

He laughed angrily "Like I'm at some girls hotel room after passing out drunk?"

"Yeah, something like that. If you want, she can come over and I'll leave for a while.

You two probably need to work things out, as you mentioned last night, you call me when I can come back."

"She'd know this isn't my room, she'd think I slept with you. I can't do this" he said, rubbing his neck to the point of it heating up.

Melody walked over to him and grabbed his hand from his neck "Don't do that, you have nothing to worry about. We didn't, and unless she's a bitch, she'll understand what you're going through. If she doesn't, fuck her."

"Don't talk her like that." he said angrily, almost yelling.

She stepped back "I wasn't saying she was, I was saying since she isn't, she'll understand. Plus, she should know how stubborn you are NOT to sleep with someone."

---

He groaned again, looking out the window "What time is it?" he asked.

"Um... around 8, I think." she said, not finding a clock in the room. "I think your phone has the time..." she added.

He hit the side button, lighting up the little window that shows it is, in fact 8 o'clock. "God. I need to eat something." he said, running his hands over his head.

"I'll go order you something from room service, you stay here." she says, leaving the room for a second.

---

While she was gone, and most likely looking for the menu, his phone rings.

He picks it up and looks at the display and instantly recognizes Chloe's number. Without really thinking it over, he picks up automatically "Chloe?"

"Jack, finally." she said with a sound of relief "I've been so worried about you." she said.

"You were?" Jack asked, sounding more surprised than he should have, pinning it on the drinking.

"Well, duh, Jack. I'm kinda in love with you..." she said, rolling her eyes, which Jack could sense, even over the phone.

"Really?" he asked, knowing it was a stupid question.

"Yeah, Jack. Figured it was pretty obvious."

"I know...love you too, Chlo'." he said, wishing he could hold her right now.

"So what's up with you not picking up all night?" she asked.

"I uh...Where are you?" he asked, not wanting to answer over the phone.

"...just dropped Jake off at preschool, why?"

"No reason. Why don't you come over to the hotel and we'll talk." he said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking or anything.

"Why? What's wrong, Jack?" she asked, worried again.

"Nothing...I mean, nothing...I just want to talk to you, that's all."

---

Just then, Melody came into the room, unaware that he was on the phone.

"Jack, what did you" she started asking, before realizing he was on the phone "...oh sorry." she added at a whisper.

---

"Who is there with you?" she asked, hearing Melody.

"Nobody... just some girl. Not in that way. She's just..." Jack froze, not wanting her to think the worst.

"Jack?" Chloe asked, worried by his response.

---

Melody took the phone from Jack, noticing his pause "Hello, Chloe?"

"Yeah... who is this?" she asked, defensibly.

"I'm Melody... before you jump to conclusions, I'm just a friend...not even a friend, really. Alright, so Jack came into the bar-I'm a bar tender by the way- and he just needed to vent, mostly about his job... and he ended up drinking a lot and passing out, so I took him to my room. Nothing happened, he just woke up about half an hour ago."

"Alright..." Chloe said, unsure of how to respond. "So he's been..."

"Passed out pretty much all night, yes. I tried to wake him when his phone rang, but he's hard to wake up... sorry. I didn't want to answer it because...well, obvious reasons, I didn't know who it was and it wouldn't look good to anyone when a woman answers a phone..."

"Alright. Thanks for taking care of him, I guess. Is he alright?" she asked

"Um, besides a hangover...and I think he's still slightly drunk, I think so though."

"How much did he drink?" she asked, concerned.

"A lot...too much, but he looked like he needed it. I don't know what's going on, but he seemed pretty messed about something."

"Yeah, well... where are you two?" she asked, not wanting a huge explanation that she seemed to be getting with each question.

"Room 256" she said, catching Chloe's tone.

"Alright, tell him I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay." she said and Chloe hung up.

---

"What did she say?" Jack asked, staring at her.

"Nothing, I explained the situation and she's coming over."

"She didn't say anything? How did she sound?"

"I don't know, kinda pissed. I would be too, but I told her nothing happened..." Melody said, handing back his phone. "So what do you want to eat?"

"Nothing, I'm not hungry..." he replied, turning over.

"Jack, you have to eat. It'll help with that headache you have."

He sighed before answering "Cheeseburger."

"Alright, I'll be right back... actually, I'll just come in when it's here. You sleep."

He rolled his eyes "Yes, ma'am."

---

Jack turned over and covered his head with the pillow to block out the sun. While he was resting, Melody sat in her living room and examined his wallet that was sitting on the counter.

Nothing out of the ordinary, really. A couple ID's she didn't recognize, but other than that, it was a normal wallet-not that she expected anything different.

It had some pictures in one of the slots, one was him, some woman, and a little child "Kim" she thought, recalling from his story last night, she looked at the back "Jack, Terri and Kim" she smiled.

The next one was a different woman, "Chloe O'brian" was written on the back, she seemed like a very beautiful woman. It was a nice picture too.

The next picture was of Jack and some dark haired man, they looked like good friends which made her smile after hearing what he went through while at the bar. "To Jack and Tony, and to another successful day" was written, in another persons writing.

The final picture was one of the same girl in the first picture, but older, around 20-something. She was very pretty as well, had his eyes, she thought.

---

Not long after, Chloe knocked at the door and Melody put everything back and answered the door.

"Chloe, I assume." She stated, already knowing from the picture in his wallet.

Chloe gave her a forced smile, trying not to be rude "Yeah."

"Jack's in the room on the left lying down" Melody said, moving aside to let Chloe through.

"Thanks" Chloe replied, walking past.

---

Chloe walked into the room and stood at the door.

"Jack?" she said softly, seeing him curled up in the bed with his head under the pillow.

He looked up from under the pillow and smiled "Chloe." He said, stumbling as he got up.

She looked him over, noticing his imbalance. "How much did you drink last night?"

He groaned thinking about it "Too much…" he paused "I'm sorry, Chloe."

Chloe took a step foreword. "Jack… it's fine."

"No it's not." Jack said, somewhere between anger and shame. "I let you down…again."

She rolled her eyes "Jack… shut up."

He looked up at her, not believing what he heard.

"You know more than anyone that people make mistakes Jack." Chloe said, sitting down beside him.

He looked down "I'm not so sure it was a mistake…" he paused "I mean, I… I don't know. I'm always fucking things up, why do you keep coming back." He asked.

"Jack, you didn't fuck things up. You got drunk, so what? It's not like I haven't had my share of write-offs." She said, holding his hand.

"I knew better and I didn't care, Chloe. I just said fuck it and drank myself away. How can I just do that and not care?" Jack said harshly.

"You do care, Jack." she begun, looking at him "Listen. Yeah, you drank yourself half crazy and ended up in a hotel with some chick… under normal circumstances, yes, you fucked up."

"You obviously care because you didn't sleep with the unnecessarily attractive woman who got you drunk enough to sleep with anyone and you still feel guilty about it." She paused "Not only that, but given the circumstances, I would have done the same.

In the past three days, you got back from being someone else in Russia, you found out you're a father…again, you talked to your daughter for the first time in forever, and you had to take character again and bully some guy around before getting used to being back. That's a lot for anyone, Jack."

"Still..." he said, looking at his feet.

---

Chloe stood up for a second. She was getting frustrated with him right now and just wanted to slap him for not realizing he was wrong.

Instead, she took a deep breath and sat back down "Jack, please don't do this..." she started, "Just talk to me, we can work things out."

"I don't want to hurt you again, Chloe." he said, looking up at her.

---

Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I ordered Jack some food before you came and..." she trailed off, showing the burger

"No problem." Chloe replied, tapping Jack's shoulder to get his attention.

"Would you like me to order anything, Chloe?" Melody asked her.

She smiled "No thanks." she yawned a bit "But if I could have a coffee..."

"Yeah sure" she said, leaving the room for a little bit, coming back with a coffee and handing it to Chloe. "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone."

"Thanks" Chloe said softly.

---

When she left, Chloe turned back to Jack, who was eating his burger like he hadn't eaten in weeks, she thought to herself. Not that he probably ate full coarse meals while he was gone, not to mention probably didn't think to grab a bite to eat before drinking half the bar... it definitely didn't help his thought process.

She hoped he would be feeling better once he ate, she hated seeing him like this.

---

It had been a while though, not counting the time he was away either, but, before he left, he hadn't been to bad.

She smiled as she thought back to when they started spending time together, first at work, than after hours, he had been so calm compared to his usual self, even while working.

Some days he really opened up to her in ways that she could tell he hadn't opened to many people.

Not to mention when they started sleeping together, he actually came into work once or twice with a smile and joked around on days they had spent the night together.

That's not to say she wasn't effected, she thought, she actually didn't yell at Milo for stupidly setting off the firewall and freezing the system, all she did was roll her eyes and fix it.

Than again, it was pretty hard to be angry when you just had sex... not impossible, but pretty damn hard.

---

Jack finished his burger in no time, thinking about how things have changed again.

"Feel any better?" Chloe asked, sitting closer to him.

He nodded "A bit, I think."

She put her hand on his shoulder "Do you want to talk?" she asked, then quickly added in a "You don't need to. I mean I'm here when you want to, but..."

He nodded "Do you mind if I take a shower first?" he asked, looking down at his shirt, covered in sweat and who knows what else.

She laughed "Good idea, stinky."

He gave her a playful, dirty look "uh, we should probably go to my room first though..." he said, looking towards the door.

She nodded getting up and opening the door for him.

---

When they got to the living room, Melody stood up to see what was up.

"We're just going up to my room, if that's alright. I'm going to shower and talk with Chloe... after the shower..." he paused, knowing he had said more than enough.

She smiled "Of course, no problem. Good luck guys, have a good night."

"Thank you." Jack replied, shaking her hand.

Chloe nodded her head and said a quick "bye" as she walked into the hall.

* * *

A/N:

I wasn't sure if I was going to end it there or continue on to Jack's room, but I decided against it. Thank you for your replies and hope you like it.

-Mae


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

---

The walk to his room was quiet, but not uncomfortable. They held hands as they walked closely beside each other, both smiling contently.

When they got to his room, Jack gave Chloe a quick hug before taking off to the shower.

"I'll be out in a few, alright?" he yelled, turning on the water.

"Sure..." Chloe answered, not sure if he heard her anyway.

---

While she waited, she looked around the room, not that she really expected to find much, it was a hotel room and one that he hadn't been inside of much.

As she looked, she wandered into the bedroom, looking at the stuff he had on the table by the bed.

He had a picture of the two of them, taken around the time she started at CTU. It was a nice picture though, who ever took it caught them at a non-awkward moment where they both looked relaxed.

She smiled lightly as she looked into his eyes in the picture, wondering what he was thinking...

---

Just then, as she continued looking at the picture, she heard the door open and jumped back as a near-naked Jack stood in the doorway of the bathroom, in only a towel.

"Um, that was quick..." she said, looking to the ground, blushing slightly.

He looked himself over to make sure he was covered before smiling "Yeah... I got used to short showers, I guess" he shrugged "Russians aren't as patient as you." he laughed.

"Guess not..." she said, "I'll just leave you to get dressed." she said as she walked toward the door.

He smiled "I'll be out in a sec, Chlo'." he said as she left the room.

---

He walked over to the bed, where his suitcase sat and looked over at the picture she was stairing at and smiled as he grabbed out a shirt and some pants.

---

He came out of the bedroom with the towel around his neck, and threw it into a garbage bag that held most of his dirty laundry.

He brushed his hair back with his fingers and walked into the living room, where Chloe sat, looking up at him.

He stretrched his arms and fell back onto the couch effortlessly, beside Chloe.

She gave him a weird look "Feeling better?" she asked, taking in his presence.

"Not really, no." he answered honestly, smiling.

"Than what's that smile for, Bauer?" she asked, sarcastically.

"Just happy you're here." He said, leaning further back.

She rolled her eyes "Since when are you the mushy one?" she asked playfully.

"Since my head hurts...and is probably just as mushy as I'm being right now." he laughed.

"You'll recover." she said, rolling her eyes again.

He smiled with a sigh "Always do, don't I?"

She nodded "You are too damn stubborn to let a hangover kill you." she joked.

"Feels like more than a hangover to me." he groaned.

---

She rolled her eyes and was about to reply when she remembered Jake.

"Chloe?" Jack asked after she froze.

"Shit. Jake is done school at 12" she said, flicking her phone open to see the time "11:45. shit"

Jack sat up and looked down "Don't worry about me, go get him and I'll see you tomorrow." he said, getting up to retreve her jacket.

"No." she said, rather abruptly.

He looked at her for a second, trying to read her.

"I mean, I don't have to go. I told the babysitter I needed her to look after him tonight."

"oh." he said, simply.

"Well, I do have to go...for a second anyway. She wont pick him up, that's all. She's kind of a bitch."

Jack nodded, trying not to laugh at her rambelings. "Kim." he replied, interrupting her, mid thought.

"Kim?"

He smiled "Kim. I can call her and see if she'll get him."

"But what the sitter?"

"Well, Kim can drop him off there, if that'd be better. I'm sure she'll do it."

"Yeah?" she said nervously.

"Yeah. I can give her a call right now..."

She smiled and nodded as he dialed her number.

---

"Dad?" she answered

"Yeah, honey. It's me."

"Is everything alright, you don't sound too good." she asked, noting the strain in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Rough night... anyway, Chloe and I are at the hotel... talking, and I was wondering if you would mind picking up Jake for Chloe?" he asked

She smiled "Yeah, sure. He's done at 12, right?"

"Yeah. You don't have to watch him though, Chloe said the sitter just wont pick him up or something... so you can just drop him off or whatever."

She laughed "Relax dad, it's fine. I'll take him out for ice cream or something before I drop him off, if that's alright. I kinda promised him last time I saw him."

"Ice cream?" he asked, more for Chloe's benifit than hers. Seeing Chloe nod and roll her eyes, he continued his sentence "That's fine, I'll talk to you later, sweetheart."

"Dad?" she asked, keeping him on the line. He didn't answer, expecting her to follow "I'm glad you and Chloe are talking some more." she said "Bye now." she added, quickly hanging up the phone.

---

Jack laughed a little before going back to the couch, finding his place. "what were we talking about?" he asked, the topic having slipped his mind.

"Um, I think you were whining about having a headache." she laughed.

"Oh yeah... kiss it better?" he asked, jokingly.

She reached over and kissed his forehead "All better?" she laughed.

"Almost." he said and leaned over and began kissing her, without a second thought.

She slowly moved over without breaking contact, allowing him to get closer as the kiss grew deeper and longer.

---

He pulled away, against both his and Chloe's dismay.

He sat up straight "I'm sorry" he said, rubbing his neck and looking down.

She at up beside him and put her hand on his back, the other taking his hand. "Don't be."

He looked up to question her, but she beat him to it "I love you, Jack..." she said, looking into his eyes "I mean, I understand...if you aren't ready. I just don't want you to feel sorry for that or anything." she added, feeling the pain shift in his eyes.

"I-" he started before he could think of what he wanted to say.

"Jack, it's alright. We don't have to talk about it right now." she said, blushing a bit.

He moved his hand over to hers and looked back at her "I want to talk about it, I don't want to fuck things up, Chlo."

"Jack" she started

"Chloe. I love you. You mean the world to me, you and Jake. I just don't know if...I, I haven't... been with anyone since I left. I just don't want to rush things because of it." he confessed, feeling his cheeks burning up as he spoke.

"You haven't?" she asked in surprise.

He looked up at her feeling his stomach twirl.

"I mean, I haven't either but I had a baby and people, friends...I mean, I'm glad...I guess. It's just... wow really?" she stopped herself when she noticed her rambeling again.

He nodded "Not that I couldn't have, I mean, it just didn't feel right. Not that I had much time to worry about my sexlife while I was there..." he shrugged "I just want to... make sure it's okay, that we're okay..." he said, kind of awkwardly.

She put her arm around him and pulled him into a hug "I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with, Jack." she gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm sorry and I know I don't have to appoligise for anything, but... it's a lot." he sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Jake sooner."

"I'm just glad I know about him now, chloe. It's not like you really could have, realistically." he smiled "I still can't believe I have a son." he added, leaning back onto the couch and motioning for her to lay back with him, to which she obliged.

"Yeah. You should have seen me when I found out... I think everyone in medical, or even CTU for that matter is going to hell just for hearing me." she laughed "I kinda freaked out at first... and for a while after 'cause I didn't think I could do it." she said, looking into his eyes. "I couldn't be happier now though." she smiled at him.

"I'm glad." he smiled "I'm kind of tired, do you want to watch a movie for now?" he asked, putting his arm around her.

Chloe relaxed into his side after nodding. She snatched the clicker from his hand with a big smile. "but I'm picking."

* * *

A/N:

I wasn't sure where to end it, I could have gone on, but I have an idea in the works for the next chapter, so I had to end it somewhere.

Anyway, hope you like it and keep reading.

-Mae


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13-

---

Kim pulled into the parking lot at five to twelve and sat in her car for a second before going into the school. She walked into the building and knocked on the door to his classroom.

"Hello, may I help you?" the teacher asked, stepping outside.

"Yes, I'm Kim Bauer. I'm here to pick up Jake O'Brian, I'm his sister."

"His sister?" she asked

"Yes, I'm his father, Jack Bauer's daughter. They asked me to pick him up from school today."

"I see. Hold on, let me get him." she said, stepping back inside the class room.

---

Seconds later, the boy came running out calling her name.

"Hey, Jake. Your mom sent me to pick you up, alright?"

"Am I coming to your house?" he asked, smiling.

"No, Julia is waiting for you, I'm just picking you up before we go over there."

"Why can't I stay with you?" he asked, sadly.

"Chase and I have some stuff to do, but I'll take you out for ice cream like I promised, before I take you over there. How about that?"

Jake's face lit up as soon as he heard the word Ice cream. "Awesome"

"So, are you ready to go?" she asked, checking for his bag.

"Uh huh." he nodded, taking Kim's hand. "Bye Mrs. Clarke." he said, waving at his teacher.

"Bye Jake, see you tomorrow." she said, waving back.

---

When they got to the car, Kim strapped him into the car seat and got into the driver seat.

"So, Jake how was school?" she asked, looking at him in the mirror.

"Good. I won at tag! I was the fastest so I didn't even get touched... well, I let Amelia tag me, but I won." he told her.

Kim smiled "You sound like our dad, he'd always let my mom win to make her feel better." she laughed.

He smiled "Where is your mommy?"

Kim sighed and looked into the mirror again "She died when I was 16."

"Oh, I'm sorry. When my uncle died my aunt cried all the time, mom said it was because she missed him." he said, trying to make a connection.

Kim smiled "Yeah, I cried for a pretty long time when my mother died." she said, "I'm alright now though."

He smiled and looked out the window as they pulled up to the store.

---

Kim took Jake out of the car seat and they walked inside, got their ice cream and sat down.

While they were eating, Jake paused for a second. "Kim?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Is my...our dad going to be okay?" he asked in a soft, serious tone, playing with his ice cream.

"What makes you think he wont?" she asked, concerned.

He gave her a worried look "Mommy was acting funny, she was quiet last night and she swore when I was up stairs and asked him to be alright, even though he wasn't there." his voice got shaky "I don't want him to go away again."

Kim sighed, only partly knowing what went on last night and this morning, and seeing him so worried reminded her of herself.

She smiled with hope that she wouldn't be lying "Well, I wouldn't worry too much. As much as my...our dad gets into trouble, he's that much better at getting out."

"Really?"

"Yeah" she smiled again "I think your mom was just worried, that's all. I talked to them earlier and he sounded fine."

"You did?" he said, excitedly

"Yeah, he called me to ask me to come get you."

He smiled for a second before turning uncertain again "Why wasn't he here though, did he have a problem with me or my mom?"

Kim froze for a second, surprised by the question and thinking about how to explain things to him.

"It definitely wasn't because of you or your mom. He loves you both so much, more than anything. He hated that he had to leave her... did Chloe ever tell you what he does?" she asked.

"Not really... a bit, I think."

"Well you know hoe Uncle Tony and Chase work with your mom at CTU, but they have different jobs, and work outside the office a lot?"

He nodded

"Well, he does that. A lot of the times he works outside of the office to bring in the bad guys, but some times it takes longer and he has to go for a long period of time, kind of like a solider going overseas, but he doesn't go to fight."

Jake smiled "So, kind of like a cop?"

"Exactly... but he has a cooler job..." she leaned in after looking over her shoulder "He's a special agent!" she whispered to him.

He smiled "Cool!"

She nodded "Your mom is too, you know. They call her Agent O'Brian."

His smiled widened again and she smiled back.

"Do you know why he didn't call though?" he asked again.

Kim laughed a bit inside. He never shied away from a question, did he? She was thinking how much he was like his parents-both of them, really.

"He wasn't really allowed to, he would have gotten in big trouble if he tried. He wanted to though."

"He wasn't allowed?" he asked.

"No. When he's on these missions, he's undercover and has to keep at it. He also has a different boss, who has a lot of rules."

"Do you know where he was?"

"For the most part he was in Russia. There were other places, but I'm not sure where." she answered.

"He's been to Russia? That's so cool!"

She smiled "Yeah, he used to travel a lot, he's been all over the world. It's pretty cool."

He smiled again "Do you think he'd tell me about it?"

"I'm sure he'd love to tell you about it some time."

He smiled, eating more of his ice cream.

---

"Kim?" Jake asked quietly.

"Yes?" she answered, looking at him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can always ask me anything, Jake. What is it?" she asked, sensing something in his tone.

"Well, do you think he's going to leave again?"

She sighed "I don't know, Jake. I'd like to say no, but there's always a chance." she paused before continuing "but I think he needs time to figure things out before he decides to go with CTU mission work.  
I'm sure he'll be hanging around though...it'll be very hard to take him away from you and Chloe now that he's back." she smiled, hoping she reassured him.

"so... you think he is going to stay?"

She smiled "I think so, he loves both you and Chloe so much."

"What about you?" he asked

"Me?"

"Well, he's your dad too, doesn't he love you?"

She smiled "Yes, he does. It's different though, I'm all grown up so it's not the same as if used to be."

"My mom's a grown up..." he said, slightly confused.

She smiled again "That's also different. Me and you are his children, it's a different kind of love from him and your mom."

"How does he love my mom?" he asked, still some what confused.

"He loves her... it's hard to explain. For one, it's different for everyone, but kind of like Tony and Michelle and how they love each other differently than they love Tyler and Kaylee"

"Oh." he said simply.

She smiled "You'll understand sometime, don't worry." she said, winking at him.

He smiled back and they finished their ice cream before heading back to the car and off to Chloe's, where Jake's babysitter was waiting.

* * *

A/N:

I wrote this chapter to explain some things in another point of view, and to have a little more Jake... Please tell me what you think of this chapter, I'm not quite sure about it.

Also, I am currently writing a sort of prequel/stand alone thing that I'll be posting some time soon as a separate story, so look for that if you want.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 -

Jack's cell rang, jolting them both awake as they lay on the couch. Taking a second to compose himself, stood up and answered his phone.

"Bauer" he groaned as he answered, brushing his face and hair with his hand. Chloe watched him as he paced, his face changing slightly in between small, one or two word replies. Smiling, he nodded his head as he spoke. "Alright, honey. Thanks a lot, I'll talk to you later." he said, hanging up after.

"That was Kim." he said, sitting back down on the couch. "She was just saying she got him there alright." he continued "Sitter gave her a hard time though." he shrugged.

"Yeah, she's kind of a bitch, but there aren't many people I'd want taking care of him. At least she hasn't been arrested." she scowled slightly.

Jack laughed and put his arm around her "So much for watching a movie, I don't even remember the credits." he said, looking at the tv.

She nodded with a shrug "I guess we were both tired."

"Guess so..." he added, stretching with a yawn.

"Want to try watching it again?" she asked, less than enthusiastically, thinking she'd probably fall asleep again and then be up all night only to be tired tomorrow.

He nodded, yawning again "No, but I'm kinda hungry, you?" he asked, looking at the clock.

She shrugged "I guess, want me to order something?" she asked.

"No. I was thinking more along the lines of real food." he smiled.

She gave him a weird look for a second "I've had your food, Jack..." she half-joked, hoping he wasn't planning on cooking.

He laughed and shook his head "No, I meant REAL food. There's a place down the street where we could go... if you want to."

"Sure." Chloe smiled.

"Want to walk over? It's not far and I could use the exercise after last night."

She smiled and nodded "Fine with me."

The two walked down to the small restaurant not far from his hotel. It was a nice little place, not overly fancy but well kept with a nice casual feel. They sat down at the table that was insisted by the waiter and they looked at the menus.

"At the risk of sounding horribly cliché, do you come here often?" Chloe asked Jack.

He smiled "No. I've only actually been here once before. Decent food, not too busy." he shrugged.

After the waiter came back and took their order, they continued talking while they waited for their food.

"I don't think I'm going to do field work anymore." he started, taking a pause for a second "I'll probably stick around CTU and run ops or training, but I don't think I can do missions anymore."

Unsure of what to say, she asked "Are you sure?"

She was happy he doesn't want to go, but the uneasy feeling of him being around but not in it was getting to her. He wasn't the type to sit back and let other's do the work and she didn't want to be the cause of his distress.

He held her hand "I know you're worried about me and how I'll handle not being in there, but it's what I need. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but it's just an idea. I might do some field things, but I don't want it to be my main thing and I won't go on missions. I can't do that to you or Jake, it's not fair."

"Don't do that, Jack. I don't want you to go and I love you, but you have to do it for yourself, not for us. I don't want you to end up resenting us because you weren't ready."

"Chloe, I could never resent you. But I am doing it for myself; I can't keep putting my body through this all the time. I need some sanity, something to look forward to." he smiled at her "Plus, I'd feel safer if I knew the next gen of field agents were trained by me. It'd save a lot of time and money in the long run." he joked.

"Whatever you do, I'll have your back." she smiled.

They held the conversation while the waiter brought their food to them. After the waiter left, Jack played around with his food for a while before speaking.

"Chloe?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"I know we haven't really discussed this before, but it's something that has been bothering me for a while... I think even before I left." he paused to look her in the eyes, "I know we had a sort of "agreement" before, but it didn't feel right, like I was using you. I hated not telling people or being anything more than a friend..." he trailed off.

Chloe took a deep breath, unsure of Jack's intentions, if he wanted to be more...or less.

"So... what are you saying?" she asked nervously with a look of panic in her eyes that caused Jack to get nervous as well.

"I don't know, I just want to know where we stand. I'd just like to give us a try. I mean, things are different now and I don't just mean with Jake. I just think it feels right, us together. I mean, if you don't think so, or you don't want to, I'll understan-"

Chloe cut him off with a kiss, leaning over the table and pulled him forward.

"Does that mean yes?" he asked, breaking the kiss.

"It means hell yes." she said pulling him back to her.

He pulled away again "think we should get out of here before we get thrown out?"

"What's the fun in that?"

"Good point, but I think I've had enough of that kind of fun for the week..."

"Good point, Bauer, my place or yours?"

"Is Jake home?"

"Yeah."

"Mine" he said raising his hand for the bill.

Jack walked with his arm around Chloe as they left the restaurant and back to Jack's hotel room.

Chloe sat down on the couch as Jack put his phone and wallet on the table by the door.

"Hi." he said sitting down beside her.

"Hello." she said, laughing.

Jack smiled and brushed Chloe's hair behind her ear as he had done so many times before. With that, he leaned in and captured her lips.

Unlike those other times, this would be the first time as an official couple, not to mention the first time for either of them in over four years.

Without hesitation, Jack shifted Chloe onto his lap as they got more serious. They begun undressing and sank back into the couch.

Just then, timed as perfect as their lives, Chloe's phone rang. Jack groaned and let go of Chloe, who blushed.

"Get it before I changed my mind and never let you go again." he joked, passing her the phone.

Chloe reluctantly answered "O'Brian"

"Mommy?" Jake replied.

"Jake, honey, is everything alright?" she asked

-Jack looked up "Is he alright?"

Chloe shooed him away, waiting for a response.

"When are you coming home? I miss you."

She smiled "I don't know, hun. I might be home later tonight, alright? If you want, I'll wake you up when I get in if you are sleeping already."

She could feel him rolling his eyes "Alright, momma." he said sadly.

"Is Jack okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Why, do you want to talk to him?"

"Yes, please."

She smiled and handed the phone over to Jack.

"Hey, buddy. How's it going?" Jack asked.

"Hi dad!" Jake replied excitedly "I'm alright, just bored."

Jack laughed "Yeah? Well, hang in there, kiddo."

"I will, I gotta go now Julie's calling me." Jake said in a sarcastic tone.

Jack smiled "Alright, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye dad!" Jake said, hanging up.

Jack leaned back with a smile on his face.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"He called me dad." he said placing the phone on the table.

"You are his dad...or did you forget?" Chloe joked

He smiled sarcastically at her "I know, it's just...cool."

"Cool?" she laughed "Of course he's cool, he's my son." Chloe said, winking.

"Not what I meant." he paused "get over here." he said pulling her on his lap. "Though a valid point, Ms. O'Brian." he joked "That son of ours has impeccable timing, doesn't he?"

"Seems to run in the family..." she shrugged, kissing him on the cheek before getting up.

"Coffee?" she asked, poking around the corner.

"Sure, thanks." he nodded, picking up Chloe's phone.

"What are you looking at?" Chloe asked, breaking Jack out of thought.

"Just some pictures..." he smiled, flashing the phone which showed what he figured was the end result of a food fight involving a three year old's birthday cake.

Chloe blushed "...there may have been an argument involving the cubs." she laughed.

He nodded "Cake's a good colour on you." he joked "but I must say, Tony looks rather stunning as well." he added, flipping to a picture of Jake smearing cake in Tony's face.

"That's what I said" she laughed as he continued to flip through her pictures.

"Someone got Kim?" he said shocked.

Chloe laughed "Yep. Chase _and_ Tony got her…which resulted in a cake massacre." She said, flipping to the following picture of Kim pitching cake at Tony.

"That's my girl." He laughed, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So Jack, got any plans for tomorrow morning?" Chloe asked.

"No…but I thought you had work?" Jack answered curiously.

"Yeah, I do, but I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" she asked taking a deep breath.

Jack looked at her weirdly again "Of course I will... but what is it?"

"Well… it's just… could you watch Jake for me?" she blurted out quickly.

"What?" he said surprised "I mean, yes…but really? You want me to?" he added, still surprised.

"He is your son, Jack." Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

"I know. I just haven't been alone with him before." Jack said, looking into his mug.

"You have been alone with a human before, right?"

He gave her a dirty look "You know what I mean. It's a big step, that's all."

"So will you do it?" she asked with another eye roll.

"Of course I will, I'd love to spend the day with him."

Chloe smiled "Good… we better go soon though, Jake won't go back to sleep if we wake him up too late."

"Than I guess we should get going." He smiled, grabbing his keys.

* * *

A/N:

Hope you like this chapter, sorry it took so long to post a new one. I have been swamped with school and personal stuff.

Thanks for reading,

Mae


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